Environment Canada Confirms Tornado In Midland

Environment Canada confirmed Thursday the storm that rocked Midland, Ont. was an F2 tornado. That means the winds were blowing between 181–253 km/h, and the path of destruction was 110-250 metres wide.

A damage team will be surveying areas east of the city to determine if a twister caused damage there, as well.

Meanwhile, people in Midland will begin cleaning up the damage caused by the tornado that hit the area around 6:30pm Wednesday.

Local resident Jamie Patterson claims to have caught the funnel cloud on tape.

“The weather got terrible. The winds picked up pretty bad and all the sudden it touched down right behind us … I started filming,” he said. “It was the craziest experience of my life, actually.”

Another resident, Phyllis Hook, said the frightening sky sent her running for cover.

“I have a swing on my porch and it shot from one end to the other and I went to see what was happening and I looked at the sky and ran and crawled in the bathtub,” she said.

Light standards were knocked over, trees were uprooted and several homes and businesses were damaged.

The Smith’s Camp trailer park appears to have suffered the brunt of the damage. Residents there say the strong winds lifted the mobile homes and tossed them around. About 40 homes were destroyed.

A state of emergency has been declared in the area.

Eight people suffered minor injuries in the storm and there are no reports that anyone was seriously hurt.

Mayor James Downer said that the total cost of the damage will be between $10 million and $15 million.

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