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Mountain of debris piled up in Barrie, Ont. neighbourhood hit by tornado

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Barrie, Ont. -

A mountain of debris has formed at a park in the Barrie, Ont. neighbourhood ripped up by an EF-2 tornado with 210 kilometer an hour winds on Thursday.

Clean-up crews are using Sandringham Park as a waste transfer station, dropping off boards, broken windows, insulation, appliances, and other materials gathered from the destruction zone. Debris is then loaded onto trucks headed for the landfill.

MORE TORNADOES CONFIRMED

The Northern Tornadoes Project has revised the track of the twister that hit the Mapleview Drive and Prince William Way area.

Researchers now say the damage zone is 12 kilometres long and 600 meters wide.

They have also confirmed four other EF-2 twisters in central and northern Ontario Thursday: in Little Britain, Lorneville, Dwight, and Lake Traverse. A barn and outbuilding were destroyed in Lorneville.

Researchers say with more in-depth analysis of images of the storm, some classification details may change, and more tornadoes from July 15 could still be confirmed.

'SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS' ON CLEAN-UP

The city expected to have all public streets, sidewalks, boulevards, and parks in the affected area cleared by the end of Sunday.

Fees at the city landfill are also being waved until Friday to allow residents to dispose of any storm debris, and collection bins have been dropped off in affected areas.

While some homes initially deemed unsafe have been cleared, unsafe orders remain in place at 69 damaged homes.

On Sunday, six roofers with Ready Roofing and Renovations knocked on doors to offer emergency patching free of charge.

Officials say 11 people were injured in Thursday's storm, 10 were sent to the hospital, two of them with serious injuries. No one was killed.

Fourteen families with 43 members have sought help from the Red Cross. Ten families have been put up at a hotel with the others staying with friends or family members.

The city is no longer accepting physical donations, but financial gifts can be offered through the Salvation Army's website.

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