The tornado that hit Angus didn’t stop there, but it did weaken the further it travelled.
That doesn’t mean it left other communities unscathed, however.
After the tornado hit Angus, it moved into southwest Barrie then continued into Innisfil and northern York Region. By the time it left Barrie it was a lesser storm – something called “straight line winds.”
“I heard a bang.. And it just fell down right in front of my house,” remembers Martina Offenbeck.
You can barely see her Holland Landing house, and her car is covered by broken branches.
“I couldn't see any sky,” she says. “I saw white. Totally like you were encased in a cloud. That's what it felt like.”
The storm hit her Holland Landing neighbourhood hard.
“There (were) trees flying by. The windows were all shaking. And just before that it went dead silent,” says Dave Thurley. “There was nothing, no sound. And then boom.”
That was the sound of yesterday. Today, it’s wood-chippers on almost every block.
People in the area say the storm moved in quickly. The hail started, then the rain. And winds really picked up to the point trees were flung everywhere.
Now, there's a huge mess to clean up. And at the local marina, meanwhile, there’s even more damage.
“There are 21 boats that are underneath the roof,” says Danny Duguay, owner of South Bay Harbour.
The same storm that flipped boats in East Gwillimbury also flipped and pushed a barn right into a house, in Innisfil.
“We went into the cellar,” says homeowner Gerry Milliss. “We heard the banging and crashing and when we came up we thought it was the roof against the house. We never thought about the barn.”
It was an unbelievable experience for many and one that won't soon be forgotten.
“I was amazed by how much damage could be done in like 20 to 25 minutes that took hundreds of years to grow,” says Holland Landing resident Erika van Noort. “We did check last night on the street, made sure everybody's okay.”
But during this difficult time, neighbours are coming together and working through the mess.
