Angus tornado: one week later

People in the town of Angus near Barrie are marking one week today since a devastating tornado hit. The twister struck at about 5 p.m. last Tuesday and tore through a housing development. But in the wake of the tornado, the word popping up most often in Angus today is not “tragedy,” but “miracle.”

One side of Stonemount Street in Angus got the worst of the twister. And a week later engineers are still trying to determine how many of these homes can be saved and how many will have to be torn down.

The latest estimate is that between ten and 20 and write-offs.

Last week the street was overwhelmed by the tornado damage. Now its been overtaken by disaster cleanup crews.

“It’s just really extremely sad for everyone walking around. The loss on their faces, but the miracle is there’s nobody seriously hurt,” said one resident.

That word miracle comes up again and again. After the tornado caused millions in damage — possibly well over $25 million — but with no deaths or serious injuries.

Mayor Terry Dowdall says people are telling him they can rebuild their houses and the rest of the things around them, but they’re grateful no one was killed.

“That nobody was killed is to me, to this day, of every minute of every day to this day is what i think about. That is the miracle of this whole devastation,” said Dowdall.

And the twister brought out another element of the local community. Susan Dandurand started collecting donations for tornado victims in her house. Now volunteers can’t keep up with the donations overflowing into the local community centre, with people sending offers from as far away as Hamilton and Windsor.

“It’s overwhelming just to try to sort it out and deal with it and also the generosity,” said a volunteer.

The Canadian Red Cross says individuals and companies are donating goods and money. They gave out $10,000 to tornado victims in one day alone.

But after the tornado, it can still be difficult for people to think back to last Tuesday, especially children.

“Nightmares…some kids scared to go upstairs when they hear a thunderstorm. Is another tornado going to come? And it is traumatic for people who’ve never experienced that,” said Peter McGuinness of the Red Cross.