Thirty homes were damaged when a tornado hit Angus, just west of Barrie, Ont. yesterday, prompting a state of emergency being declared for the Township of Essa.
Tearing off roofs and ripping down trees in its path, the tornado – with winds approaching 175 km/h – touched down after an afternoon of severe weather warnings in parts of Ontario, and hours after four men were hit by lightning in Stouffville.
Environment Canada confirmed that the twister touched down around 5:20 p.m. and tracked east for 15 minutes, from Angus to the Mapleview Dr. area in Barrie.
Police in Angus closed off the hardest hit street, 5th line, where at least 30 homes were reported to have lost their roofs.
Like the tornado that touched down in Ontario, severe weather is a major - and ongoing - concern for insurers in Western Canadian provinces as well.
According to Bill Adams, vice-president, Western and Pacific of the
Insurance Bureau of Canada, severe storms in Alberta resulted in more than $700 million in insured losses in 2012. In 2011, storms and hail accounted for another $380 million in insured losses.
Severe storms with crop-damaging hail have also had a significant impact in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
This morning, around 7,000 Ontarians were still without power.
The four men who were struck by lightning were earlier in the day at a golf club in Stouffville. (continued.)
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Peter Epstein, a 52-year-old Toronto realtor who was at Bethesda Grange Golf Course for an afternoon tournament, was under the patio at the clubhouse when he heard a bang, then a frantic cry to call 911, he told The Globe and Mail. Golfers said that a few minutes earlier, they heard horns indicating they should go indoors.
A former ski patroller and salesman of defibrillators and cardiac monitors, Epstein went to help an ICU nurse attend to three victims struck near the 18th hole of the golf course.
“You see three guys on the ground. Chances are, they’re either in shock or they’ve been struck by lightning. So then you’ve got to figure out what’s going on with their health.”
Mr. Epstein said one of the victims was not breathing and did not have a pulse.
“His eyes were wide open and completely glazed over,” says Epstein, as the ICU nurse performed CPR and was able to revive him.
Four men aged 51, 53, 56 and 60 were taken to local hospitals. One is in critical condition and the other three are stable, said York Regional Police, who responded to a call from the golf club in the late morning.
