Researchers with the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) have confirmed three tornadoes hit the Niagara Region on Monday.
Connell Miller, an engineering researcher with the NTP at Western University, told CBC Hamilton the team is still trying to figure out “exactly what happened” but say one tornado that hit Fort Erie had wind speeds of up to 155 kilometres per hour.
NTP’s website states the tornado covered almost six kilometres, swirling the Peace Bridge.
The second tornado hit Stevensville and a third also hit Fort Erie before striking Buffalo. Miller said the details on those tornadoes are still being determined.
The National Weather Service in the U.S., says Buffalo was hit around 1 p.m., damaging buildings, flipping cars and trashing the city’s downtown with debris.
Dan Chamberlain, of Fort Erie, Ont., captured what appeared to be a tornado not far from his home on Monday.
The NTP website includes photos taken on the ground and via drone that show damage to properties from the tornado that moved toward the Peace Bridge.
Despite the trio of tornadoes, there were no injuries reported in the region.
There was also no warning from Environment Canada ahead of the three tornadoes.
Geoff Coulson, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, previously told CBC Hamilton it’s because the tornadoes were likely landspout tornadoes that are hard to catch on radar.
Environment Canada has said it is working on ways to improve this, including experimenting with new tornado-predicting models and upgrading equipment and training, among other things.
Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop told CBC Hamilton while tornadoes in the area are rare, he feels unpredictable weather events are becoming more common.
“It’s a challenge for us because we have to look at our infrastructure, we have to determine what type of reinforcements might be necessary, how we make it sustainable going forward and what type of shoreline protection we’re going to need,” he said.