Sent in by Brenda

The Ottawa Tornados

The attached short video gives you a slight hint of the wind power we faced at our Sharbot Lake home late Friday afternoon.  I was sitting on our front porch observing the winds that often accompany an approaching thunder storm .. nothing spectacular.  With no notice, the winds sped up to tornado speed sending the trees to an almost horizontal position.  The  loud, high pitch whine imitated a jet engine revving up.  Mixed with torrential water, everything was a blur.  One neighbour, with a good vantage point, described a "wall of water charging at her".  I had heard nothing like it in my life, bar what I witnessed in tornado films.

I ran into the house and Di and I simultaneously shouted, "BASEMENT" !!!!  In that instant we saw our huge oak tree smashing to the ground directly along the rear of our house. We were heading down the stairs when we witnessed our equally large Beech crash through everything in it's path across the front of us.  Within 45 seconds, everything went quiet .. the wind almost completely subsided, and the sun even shone within 5 minutes !  It was over. 

The devastation outside made the famous Ice Storm of January 1998 look like an almost mild event.  It was the largest trees that mostly succumbed to the wind force.  Their huge canopies acted as sails and they were simply uprooted, falling with forces that buried large rocks a foot deeper into the earth and crushed everything along the way.  Neighbour's cars were totalled, a 4000 lb. boat, on a covered lift was thrown upside down, power and telephone lines and poles were snapped, outbuildings were thrown, roofs and walls were penetrated with charging limbs.  For a moment, it was chaos.

Then, the human spirit took over.  People came warily outside, took photos, chatted and compared notes and visited adjoining properties.  The next step was simply inspirational and revitalized our faith in humankind.  People came in from the surrounding area, equipped with chainsaws, Kubota back hoes, bottled water, coffee, rakes, strong backs .. whatever they could offer in "sweat equity".  The first rough cleanup to open driveways, lanes and roads began.

We often fault our Ontario Hydro for their costs and gluttony, but what we saw was pure efficiency.  Under darkness of that Friday night, Hydro personnel examined the need and, by morning, every truck, piece of equipment, and manpower was in motion to clear major roads and power lines.  Some men went door to door to explain their action plan and set initial expectations.  It was a model of excellent customer relations.  They were good to their word.  Many of us needed new line stacks .. an electrician put everything else aside to get to us, replace our stacks and get quick approvals.  Right behind them were the crews to re-hook us up.  Within 12 hours of that, telephone lines were reconnected to the same stacks and we could turn off our generators and be back in communication, as we are tonight.  A local arborist/tree service dropped everything to get trees off and away from our buildings and make paths for hydro and phone service.  He will be on site until the area is safe and cleaned up.  We have a contractor already closing up holes in our garage and repairing the physical damage To both buildings.  They all came together in this crisis.  Most impressive.

Anyway, it left Di and I with a stronger respect for how life changes in milliseconds and how our priorities really stack up.  Once we learned that everyone survived .. some very close calls .. everything else was just "stuff" and would sort out with time.  We also realized that, as much as our situation was horrific, there are folks in places like Dunrobin and Gatineau who had their homes flattened and their memories and special valuables swept away in an even heavier or prolonged gust. 

They called ours a "Downburst" since the accompanying wind was equally-strong to a tornado but mainly in one direction.  That is why all the trees fell in the same direction.  These "bursts" were totally random and unpredictable.  Our house property was hit directly but our cottage next door saw almost nothing.  A bit further along the shore, docks and boats were strewn like match sticks.  Whatever the label, this one can be our last, thank you.  Hug your loved ones and thank whatever power you believe in.  Ultimately, it is fate.  But, for now, all is well.

Paul (and Di)

(Will send pics to folks not covered on FB as well as a few better quality ones to all)


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Just to close the loop .. this is the status after a week's work and a whirlwind of chainsaws, wheelbarrows, rakes, stackers, etc. by all the able-bodied members of our family.  They worked their buns off .. we can see daylight !  Our hydro stacks are replaced on both properties, our contractor has closed the roof holes and is preparing to do the gutters, soffits, facial etc.  Whew!

Some folks asked how we were equipped for a weather event such as this.  Having lived this country lifestyle all of our adult life, we have learned to be prepared for being self-sufficient for days or weeks after a mess like this.  Firstly, we have an overly-abundant supply of food and liquids, but that starts with providing back-up power with a high-output generator that is hooked into a separate control panel in the house that provides refrigeration, lights, well pump, essential kitchen appliances, sump, and even a built-in fireplace fan.  We, of course, have a BBQ, a 110 amp hot plate, microwave, the all-important coffee maker, toaster, and anything that makes life easier in crisis.  The big issue is having a source of firewood, when heat is needed, and gasoline for the generator, or the whole plan is useless.  We had 3 days supply of gas.  Along with the obvious high-quality flashlights, we have emergency lights in several areas that come on by default if the is a power disruption .. Costco item.  We have several chainsaws to cut our way out when necessary, as well as leaf blowers, a pole saw, splitter, mulcher etc.  We used a hand-crank emergency radio to obtain basic communication as well as carefully using our cell phone to preserve battery power.  We found the ATV to be a godsend for getting out of our road before the debris was cleared enough for vehicles.  It was also possible, right now, to use a boat to travel to safety or get supplies by water from the village of Sharbot Lake.  (We did not use that option). 

Anyway, it is nice to have things back to some semblance of normalcy.  We are working with our insurance adjuster and building estimator and will be hearing hammers for some time with much shingling to do, and more at risk trees to bring down.  There are many smaller items to replace such as picnic table, wishing well, decorative fountain, swing set, many planters etc. But that can be done at our leisure .. insurance companies provide the funding and you repurchase at your discretion.

Sorry to have bored some of you with all this, but it is an experience that we try to share and learn from.  Whether city or country, we can all be impacted at some point .. such as ice storms and wind storms and water penetration .. and we should not depend on "the system" to save us, at least in the immediate period after an event. 

Cheers,
Paul.