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Most powerful storm in Ontario in 15 years reduces parts of Goderich to rubble

August 22, 2011 by The Extinction Protocol



ONTARIO - The town of Goderich has declared a state of emergency
after a tornado devastated the community Sunday afternoon, killing one person and injuring
dozens. Ontario Provincial Police said a 61-year-old man, identified as Norman Laberge, was
killed while he was working at the town’s salt mine. Laberge was a resident of nearby Lucknow.
Police said at least 37 people were injured. Officers from several communities, including Toronto,
converged on Goderich on Monday to sift through the wreckage during a widespread search
and rescue operation. Premier Dalton McGuinty is scheduled to tour the disaster area.
With winds of up to 300 kilometers per hour, the tornado touched down and destroyed
much of Goderich’s core – flipping vehicles, uprooting decades-old trees, destroying
several century-old buildings and leaving a trail of debris – after a violent storm system
rolled across Lake Huron shortly before 4 p.m. “This is the worst damage I’ve ever seen,”
said Environment Canada meteorologist Randy Mawson, who has been investigating
storms for 36 years. It was the most powerful storm in Ontario in 15 years, Mawson said.
A tornado warning was issued by Environment Canada at 3:48 p.m., about 12 minutes
before the tornado struck, said David Phillips, Environment Canada’s senior climatologist.
Tornado warnings are usually issued about 10 to 15 minutes in advance, he said.
Devastation is like a movie scene: witness. Herb Marshall, the owner of the Park House Bar
and Restaurant, said the scene was right out of a Hollywood blockbuster. “(The storm)
came up the hill off the lake … and just took everything with it,” Marshall said. “I believe
I saw a garbage bin up in the air going by.” Amateur video showed the devastation in
the town’s square, where vehicles were tossed like toy cars, roofs of buildings were
ripped off and debris rained down.