It’s been 10 years since a pair of tornadoes moved through Wellington County, causing millions of dollars in damage.
Homes, trees and crops were destroyed.
A number of cottages were badly damaged, as was a camp on Belwood Lake and a municipal works barn near Fergus.
At that last location, the twister’s path was wide enough to take down the structure – but apparently specific enough to spare the valuable machines housed inside.
“As badly damaged as this building was – it did almost completely come down – really none of the heavy equipment that was in here was severely damaged to the point where they couldn’t use it again,” says Jonathan Karn, the county’s fire training officer.
While thousands were left without power, no injuries were reported.
One man escaped injury by hiding under a grand piano. As he explained it to CTV News at the time, the building he was in “just fell apart” while he, shielded by the piano, stayed safe.
Similar luck prevailed at the Drost Cattle farm north of Fergus.
For reasons ranging from work to errands, most of the people normally on the property were away when the tornado struck.
The only person who was there hid in a barn and rode out the storm.
Eight barns on the property were destroyed.
Two cattle were killed, and 600 others badly hurt. The total damage to Drost Cattle was estimated at $1 million.
Owner Marnie Drost says it took nine years to fully rebuild the operation to what it was before.
“We’ve regained our strength. We’re doing very well,” she said in an interview.
While the barns have been rebuilt, Drost admits that some things will never return to how they were before the tornado.
“I’m scared of storms now,” she said.
“When it rains, I’m down in the basement pretty quick.”
Karn says that it’s “very, very surprising” nobody was hurt by the storm.
Had it tracked just one kilometre south, he says, it would have gone straight through both Fergus and Elora.
