Clean-up in Fort Erie has kicked into high gear following a massive rogue weather cell that created a powerful tornado.
The damage is widespread, but no injuries have been reported so far.
The damage is widespread, but no injuries have been reported so far. Several homes, businesses, and stands of trees were destroyed during the day of powerful winds and rains, which some have described as a moment akin to the “Wizard of Oz.”
Officials are still trying to determine how many twisters touched down on Monday, how far they travelled, and how powerful they were.
“At least one has occurred, but there is potential for multiple tornadoes to have occurred across the eastern Niagara Region based on witness videos and reports,” Connell Miller of the Northern Tornado Project said.
Some of that video footage includes a massive funnel cloud with a debris field the size of a football field.
“I literally noticed a circular pattern whipping around, probably 20 feet [to] 30 feet on either side of the road,” Ryan Smith, a Fort Erie resident, recalled.
“I’m like: ‘I think this is a tornado,’ and I started seeing the funnel kind of come down.”
Fort Erie’s Mayor says its the second time a once-in-a-hundred-year storm has hit the area in the last five years, adding that the town will have to prepare for a future of bad weather.
“As we progress, we have to keep an eye on the cost of maintaining and replacing the existing infrastructure, and how we make more sustainable the new infrastructure that’s coming up,” Wayne Redekop added.