Tornadoes Hit Southern Ontario

On Thursday we had planned to go to the Toronto Zoo, but since thunderstorms were in the forecast, we changed our plans. We headed out about 9:30 am. We weren't in a hurry and were just going to do a bit of exploring. I will post about that tomorrow.

We were on our way home about 6pm. Outside my window, I could see storm clouds moving in.

It was getting really dark and lightning was flashing brilliantly in the northern sky. I tried to get a photo of it, but lightning is fast. I did get a shot of the clouds in the distance.

Within minutes...like maybe three... this is a picture out the same window. Torrential rain and high winds roared through the area. It felled trees and I wondered if a tornado was brewing. I would guesstimate winds of 80 km per hour (approximately 50 miles an hour.) These kind of storms are rare in this area, though we used to get some bad thunderstorms when I was a child.

It poured so hard that we could barely see the road. Thank goodness we were just outside the city limits. We got into town and many intersections were flooded...one so badly it came up to the bumper of the van. The boys were in awe of nature`s fury.

By the time we got to the boys' house, it was only drizzling. The storm lasted about 30 minutes, but that was enough. Unknown to us, Michelle was about 5 minutes ahead of us and made it home just before the boys. She was traveling alone in the storm and was glad to be inside city limits when it hit. She had seen the storm clouds and put (in her words) "the petal to the metal." LOL I do have a daughter with a lead foot.

We all arrived home safely but this morning we found out there had been tornadoes throughout southern Ontario and as far north as Huntsville...about a four hour drive from here. A boy about Jordan's age is reported to have been killed in a campground north of here. Some people will be cleaning up for months. I'm not sure to what extent homes were lost but several people were injured and had to be treated at hospital.

Toronto area was also hit with several tornadoes and so was Welland and Niagara Falls, which is where we had just come from. 88,000 people in Ontario were without power. Some still are. Nature's fury is nothing to mess with. It seems that storms are becoming more severe in this area once again. From the sky, we may be in for another one today.

Update: Hurricane Bill is headed toward the Maritime Provinces. This is where hubby's mother lives. I do hope it misses her little town.