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www.gregmonforton.com Volume 1, Issue 19
Weekend Weather Thursday
H 25º L 16º
Friday
H 23º L 14º
Saturday
H 33º L 18º
Sunday
H 28º L 23º
As reported from Environment Canada www.weatheroffice.gc.ca Harrow AAFC
South Shore School cleanup - Page 17
See Pages 8, 9, 10, 11 for a Tornado Pictorial
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
FREE
State of emergency declared after tornado touches down in Leamington
Although the price tag on the damage is expected to reach millions, the Municipality of Leamington and its residents are counting themselves lucky after an F1 class tornado touched down Sunday morning at about 3 a.m., but yielded no serious injuries. Environment Caanda confirmed on Monday what local residents suspected, that an F1 tornado was to blame for the extensive dammage that occurred on June 6 between 3 - 3:30 a.m. Leamington Deputy Mayor Robert Schmidt declared a State of Emergency at 6:25 a.m. Sunday morning, June 6, just a few hours after a tornado caused widespread damage from an area extending from Fraser/Oak Street easterly to the Bevel Line. The extent of the damage is primarily south of Seacliff Drive/County Road 20. At a news conference on Monday afternoon, Mayor John Adams described the path of destruction as being about 25 miles long and a quarter-mile wide in this area. Power outages were widespread and crews worked to restore power as quickly as possible. The municipality is advising residents to “exercise extreme caution” and “be aware of downed power lines, broken glass, debris and the possibility of falling tree limbs.” Residents can put tree debris at the edge of the road for crews to pick up, although that may take some time. The municipality is asking people not to mix tree limbs with construction debris. Service from Essex Power Lines is expected to be restored by noon Monday. Essex Power Lines handles the lines from the waterfront to Wilkinson Avenue to the east side arterial road and Sherk Street at County Road 20. The rest of Leamington is handled by Hydro One which is working to restore outages in its areas, the Leamington update said. The Emergency Department of Leamington District Memorial Hospital was alerted at approximately 3:30 a.m. of the possibility of numerous injuries as a result of the violent weather. “We were contacted by EMS about 3:30 and went into emergency mode. A code orange was called which means the hospital goes on a heightened state of preparedness and readiness,” said LDMH Vice President of Corporate Services Sarah Padfield. The hospital treated and released approximately 10 patients, all with non life threatening injuries. “Lacerations from broken glass were the most severe injuries we treated. We’re obviously glad that no one was seriously injured during this disaster,” said Padfield. LDMH also had to work with limited resources as hydro to the hospital was out until dawn. Emergency generators powered the hospital for approximately four hours following the severe storm. Kyle Stewart, Golf Professional at Erie Shores Golf Club, was at the course on Sunday morning assessing the damage to the golf course. “Most of the damage is on holes 3, 4 and 5… We’ll be closed for at least a couple of weeks,” said Stewart. “Remember the big tree on #5? It’s gone,” added Stewart. On a bright note, little to no damage was done to the greens. “There’s just a lot of cleanup (Continued on Page 8)
East Beach Road
Seacliff Road, looking east
One of many vehicles damaged
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