| Jayx1 |
| quote: | It came quite literally like a bolt from the blue. By the time it was gone, 12 people lay dead, 155 were injured and thousands of lives lay in ruins.
It was exactly 20 years ago Tuesday that a tornado swept through Barrie and parts of the G.T.A. It extracted a terrible toll and left behind a swath of destruction unseen since Hurricane Hazel visited Toronto in the 50s.
More than 200 homes were destroyed but scores more were damaged. Two died in Tottenham and 24 homes disappeared.
Another two victims were discovered in Grand Valley, where 60 houses were left in a twisted ruin.
Buildings and malls were flattened in Oakville, leaving over 60 injured. And the damage was widespread – barns were toppled in Holland March and Orangeville, where farmers watched their hard tilled land whipped into a mess where only death grew.
But it was Barrie that bore the brunt of the storm. Hundreds were displaced as the deadly twister cut a path of disaster.
Premier Frank Miller was almost at a loss for words as he toured the stricken city. “If someone had come out here and didn’t know what had happened, you’d think something had exploded,” he lamented.
It was the fourth worst such storm in Canadian history and tracked almost 200 kilometres. It’s been more than 20 years since such sorrow touched so many. And experts are worried we’re overdue for another similar storm soon.
What they don’t know is where – or when. |
I remember this day very well. It was the only time my parents ever took us into the basement during a storm. I lived in Aurora at the time. The sky was green and i remember seeing pink lightning and large hail. It scared the crap out of me. Then a few days later we drove through that neighbourhood and nothing was left. |
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