Possible Windsor Tornado Leaves Injuries, Damaged Homes

An assessment team from Environment Canada says preliminary data suggests two tornadoes touched down in the area after surveying the damage and speaking with eyewitnesses on Thursday.

Officials said winds reached between 135 to 175 kilometres per hour and was the strongest tornado since Goderich in 2011 which was an F3.

“There were three people transported to hospital … the injuries were reported as not life-threatening, not critical injuries, but they were taken to hospital as a precaution”.

LaSalle, Ont. mayor Ken Antaya says he feels lucky that no serious injuries occurred as a result of the storm that uprooted trees, threw RVs and boats across neighbourhoods, and destroyed at least one home.

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens tells CTV News he has heard from many residents about an early warning notification system, but he notes in this case, it would not have worked. “The first tornado that touched down was right behind our house on Victory Road”, he said.

Canada’s national weather agency has been “raked over the coals for its tornado warning methodology”, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reports.

Ross said he didn’t capture the apparent tornado that touched down a few blocks away from his LaSalle home just minutes before one formed in neighbouring Windsor.

Robinson also commends Environment Canada for monitoring Wednesday’s huge storm as best they could.

Ria Alsen, a EC meteorologist, said the office “had no warning of a tornado” as there were no watches or warning from across the bridge in MI. “We did get reports [of a tornado] but we didn’t want to cry wolf”.