Confirmed EF1 tornado touches down near Ottawa on Sunday
With the recent flooding still fresh in the minds of its citizens, the city of Ottawa had another extreme weather event to worry about yesterday when the region was hit with a tornado in the early evening.
The tornado was given a rating of EF-1, and it is the first tornado sighting in the region following the devastating effects of multiple twisters that swept through the region in September 2018.
One person was treated for a minor injury, according to the City of Ottawa.
Did we just get another #tornado? #ottawa #ottweather #ottnews pic.twitter.com/qyQrPqimJZ
— Matt (@DuckerOIMT) June 2, 2019
@BlacksWeather Ottawa Tornado! Captured by my husband Joshua Bastian. Ek! He was even hit by a mattress. @CBCOttawa @cbcotttraffic @CBCAlerts @ctvottawa @CTVOttMornLive pic.twitter.com/F1j2CIsHDP
— Olenka (Reshitnyk) Bastian (@OlenkaKrystyna) June 2, 2019
Passed through about a minute before the alerts went off. @BlacksWeather https://t.co/T2E2KjHIYr pic.twitter.com/MqLWvKuaEw
— Rob Levesque (@levesque_rob) June 2, 2019
At about 6:15 pm on Sunday, Ottawa Public Health retweeted a tornado warning for the region issued by The Weather Network, asking residents to prepare for the impact.
⚠️Important message. Extreme weather in the region.
Are you Ready?https://t.co/9rGSYm082B https://t.co/D80Tq7U99h
— Ottawa Public Health (@ottawahealth) June 2, 2019
According to a weather summary by Environment Canada for Ontario and the National Capital Region released this morning, the tornado developed about 10 km southeast of Gatineau Airport in Quebec at about 5:54 pm on Sunday evening. It then moved east along the Ottawa River before moving to across the border into Ontario and causing damage to a number of eastern Ottawa communities like Orléans and Cumberland.
The summary mentioned observations of a funnel cloud seen over Orléans, shingles ripped off of houses, and reports of fallen trees in the area.
I’ve made it back to #Orleans to check in on my son and this is just some of the damage in his neighbourhood. Jeanne D’Arc / Champlain area. #Ottnews #OnStorm #Tornado pic.twitter.com/EBZUPMyEQU
— Marc Messier (@MessierOnFire) June 2, 2019
Wow lots of damage in #Orleans #tornado @CTVNews @CFRAOttawa #ottnews @CBCOttawa pic.twitter.com/oyZOJF5JLg
— Greg Scriver (@GGScriver) June 2, 2019
Following the damage and once the weather subsided a bit after 9 pm, the City of Ottawa tweeted out that it was deploying emergency crews to assess and respond to the damage.
“In response to a tornado in Cumberland/Orleans area, the City has mobilized its emergency operations centre and is responding with multiple departments and services, including police, fire, paramedics, forestry and Building Code Services,” the tweet read.
In response to a tornado in Cumberland/Orleans area, the City has mobilized its emergency operations centre and is responding with multiple departments and services, including police, fire, paramedics, forestry and Building Code Services. #otttornado #ottnews
— City of Ottawa (@ottawacity) June 3, 2019
Crews were responding to the damage into the late evening…
Shout out to @ottawacity who’s out here removing trees at 1030pm #orleanstornado pic.twitter.com/R9YlYPt1o8
— Dana Miller (@danastephanie) June 3, 2019
Thank you to @OttawaPolice, @OttFire and others who were checking on residents and out helping our community following the tornado. @ottawacity @MatthewLuloff pic.twitter.com/39VF9Haf6z
— Stephanie Richardson (@TepRichardson) June 3, 2019
All weather warnings for eastern Ontario were ended as of 9:23 pm, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.
As of 10 pm, city crews were still responding to the damage in the east end.