Severe thunderstorm ravages North Middlesex, Ont.
Northern Middlesex County seems to have been hardest hit by a large storm system that hit southwestern Ontario Sunday evening.
The storm, which included intense lightning and rain in many areas, caused substantial damage in Ailsa Craig, Parkhill and surrounding areas.
While the steeple of a historic church was toppled by high winds in Ailsa Craig, the most substantial damage appears to be out-of-town, where a silo was blown across a field and a barn was destroyed.
At that latter scene, property owner John Brendan tells CTV News London he’d gone to bed before the storm hit.
"Amazingly, I slept through it," he said.
This, despite the fact several trees had fallen just in front of his residence.
Around 1:30 a.m. Brendan woke up to discover rain had soaked his bedroom window. He then went outside to discover the intense damage around him.
“I shined my flashlight at the barn and the barn was non-existent.”
Brendan says he told himself it was a bad dream and went back to bed. At dawn, he was woken up by neighbours who had seen the destruction of his barn that had stood on his property since 1889.
“The first thing all my neighbours said is, ‘Thank god you’re OK, ‘Thank God you’re OK!’”
While there is no official word of what caused the damage, Brendan strongly believes it was tornado.
Steel, wood and other debris from the seemingly imploded structure is scattered across a path at least half-a-kilometre long. Concrete walls along its side lay broken by the wind.
Further down the road from Brendan’s farm, hydro poles are bent, snapped or just barely hanging on.
Inside Ailsa Craig, the clean up is underway, with dozens of trees and hundreds of tree limbs down across a large portion of town.
Local firefighter Toby Killby, who was busy cutting downed trees on his property, reflected on how the storm began with flash lightning.
“Things just went wild from there, the power went out. It’s just like a wall of rain coming across the yard. It was crazy.”
Paula Stainton heard the wildest moment of the storm, the steeple at the Trinity church coming down.
“Heard a lot of tracking, heard some trees were down, and the church roof was gone!”
That reality leaves Ron Walker, the curator of the church feeling thankful.
Looking at the topped steeple, he is glad the rest of the structure, built in 1870, was not destroyed. A large tree, just behind it, narrowly missed taking out the church.
It comes as he prepares the building for a 25th anniversary party this Saturday to mark it becoming part of the local museum.
He is hopeful the steeple might be replaced before then.
“So it’s been up since 1869 and 1870 and decided last night it was time to take a rest on the ground.”
The impact of the storms also closed a few schools in Northwest Middlesex, Elgin and Norfolk counties.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Average hourly wage in Canada now $34.95: StatCan
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
Magnitude 4.2 earthquake reported off Vancouver Island's west coast
A 4.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded west of Vancouver Island early Friday morning.
This iconic Canadian song is turning 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
Her SUV was stolen in Montreal. A Good Samaritan on Facebook helped her get it back
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.