On the afternoon of July 19th, 2013 a severe thunderstorm event moved across southern Ontario severely impacting most municipalities. Dufferin County and in particular the Township of Mulmur was not spared from this event. After thorough damage assessments by The Township of Mulmur, Environment Canada, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture the following conclusions have been reached. Environment Canada provided the following report which indicates that the hardest hit area in the province was Dufferin County. “A HOT AND HUMID AIR MASS AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT PROVIDED THE PERFECT COMBINATION TO SET OFF SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ONTARIO FRIDAY. THE SEVERE WEATHER BECAME EXTENSIVE DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS RESULTING IN THE BIGGEST SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK OF THE SEASON. AN EXCEPTIONALLY LARGE AREA WAS AFFECTED, FROM WINDSOR TO OTTAWA AND FROM LAKE ERIE TO NORTH BAY. FRIDAY MORNING, THUNDERSTORMS GAVE SEVERE WIND DAMAGE TO CALLANDER (NEAR NORTH BAY) RESULTING IN THE DECLARATION OF A STATE OF EMERGENCY FOR THE TOWN. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO DEVELOP EASTWARD AND SOUTHWARD. IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON, STORMS PRODUCED A SWATH OF DAMAGE FROM PEMBROOKE TO PETAWAWA WHERE CARS WERE FLIPPED OVER, ROOFS BLOWN DOWN, TREES UPROOTED, STREET LIGHTS SNAPPED, AND TRAILERS OVERTURNED. BY LATE AFTERNOON, WIND DAMAGE WAS REPORTED IN DOZENS OF COMMUNITIES IN A BROAD SWATH FROM LAKE HURON AND GEORGIAN BAY THROUGH TO EASTERN ONTARIO. THE SEVERE STORMS DEVELOPED SOUTHWARD DURING THE EVENING HOURS, CAUSING WIND DAMAGE IN THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE AND IN SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO. FLOODING AND DOWNED TREES WERE REPORTED IN NIAGARA FALLS WITH RAINFALL ESTIMATED AT 75 TO 100 MM. 150 MM WAS REPORTED TO HAVE FALLEN AT RONDEAU BAY. 2 MINOR INJURIES WERE REPORTED IN CHATHAM LATE FRIDAY EVENING WHEN A TREE FELL ON A CAR WITH THE PEOPLE IN IT. HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF RESIDENTS WERE LEFT WITHOUT POWER FOLLOWING THE STORMS. AS OF SUNDAY MORNING, APPROXIMATELY 50,000 HOMES REMAINED WITHOUT POWER. ENVIRONMENT CANADA STORM DAMAGE TEAMS HAVE INVESTIGATED DAMAGE IN BARRIE, ORILLIA, GRAVENHURST, HAMILTON, PETAWAWA, CALLANDER AND DUFFERIN COUNTY. THE MOST SEVERE DAMAGE WAS FOUND NEAR HONEYWOOD, IN DUFFERN COUNTY, WHERE ESTIMATED WINDS OF 150 KM/HR DESTROYED A CATTLE BARN AND THREW THE ROOF 300 METRES. THIS DAMAGE RATES EF1 ON THE FUJITA SCALE. EVIDENCE THUS FAR INDICATES THAT THE STORM DAMAGE IN ONTARIO HAS BEEN DONE BY STRAIGHT LINE DOWNBURST WINDS.” A damage assessment conducted by OMAFRA recommended that farmers with crop losses should seek compensation through Agricorp, provided that they had valid crop loss coverage. In the event of extensive uninsured losses OMAFRA would then reexamine the need for provincial assistance. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing also reviewed the damages sustained by Mulmur and they do not feel that an Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program request for financial assistance is warranted. Power outages were widespread across the County throughout this incident with several areas being without electrical service for more than 48 hours. This will be the final update for this event.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 22:22:30 +0000