Tornado confirmed in Orlans

It's official: a tornado touched down inOrlansearly Sunday evening, according to Environment Canada.

• 'We just took cover': Orlans reeling after tornado tears through region

Peter Kimball, a warning preparedness specialist with the weather agency,said Monday that he lives inOrlansand saw the funnel cloud himself near Place d'Orlans. It was about 6 p.m.

"No question about it, it was a tornado in Orlans," he told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning.

The tornado developed about 10 kilometres southeast ofthe Gatineau airport, at 5:54p.m. Itmoved along the Ottawa River and eventually hit Orlans.

While the tornado was already tracking through the area, Environment Canada issued a tornado warningin Gatineau, Que., Papineau, Que.,and Prescott-Russell, Ont., starting at 6 p.m.

A tornado warning was not issued in Ottawa.

Based on preliminary evidence, the strength of thetornado was a "low end EF-1 suggesting peak winds of 135 km/h," according to Environment Canada's initial summary of the event.

One person was treated for minor injuries, according to the City of Ottawa.

Tornado hits Ottawa-Gatineau

5 years ago

Duration 1:09

Winds that peaked at 135 km/h near the Gatineau airport ripped up roofs and trees Sunday evening.

Kimball was surprised a tornado developed on Sunday, but said the "ingredients were there."It wasn't hot in the late afternoonbut it was pleasantly warm, and there had been showers ahead of anapproaching cold front.

Sunday started out quite cool in Ottawa, hovering between 12 and 13 C until 1 p.m., but thenquickly warmedup to the day's high of 21 C by 6 p.m.

'Very unique'

"Tornadoes require really specific conditions, and I think this one was a very unique one. We'll have to be spending some time looking into the meteorology of the event in the days to come," Kimballsaid, adding that Environment Canada teams in Montreal and London, Ont., are analyzing the storm.

After seeing the tornado, Kimball went home, changed his clothesand started working. He toured some damaged areas, including along Jeanne d'Arc Boulevard and near Highway 174.

Meanwhile, OrlansCoun. Matthew Luloff found out about the tornado on social media and didn't get an emergency alert on his phone. Others in the region did.

He was out in the ward surveying damage until just before 1 a.m. Monday.

"I would say there are probably 20 to 25 streets that are heavily affected ... it's mostly concentrated in the Villages area of my ward, fromChamplain Street to the east, all the way to just past Trim Road," he told Ottawa Morning.

Many tall trees were felled, some landing on homes and vehicles and wires. Roofs were damaged.

"It looks like the roads are clear, but there's still quite a bit of debris on people's properties."

'More and more frequent'

Luloff said he takes the city's recently declared climate emergency "very seriously," and that more needs to be done.

"These events are becoming more and more frequent. And when you see tornadoes two years in a row and once in 100-year floods in 2017 and then in 2019, we really need to be taking a hard look at what we can do to shore up our critical infrastructure to keep people safe, and at the same time make sure that we're not continuing to contribute to violent climate events like this," he said.

He's also asking residents to keep an eye on their mental health in the coming days.

"Events like this can really affect people and can stir up emotions. This really touches to the heart of people feeling safe in their own home," he said.

"I think it's really important to take care of our mental health in situations like these."