‘I’m blown away by the destruction’: Residents take cover as tornado cuts through Glencoe area

A tornado tore through southwest Middlesex, leaving a path of destruction in its path. CTV London’s Bryan Bicknell reports.

There were no reported injuries after a tornado cut a path through Southwest Middlesex Thursday evening.

It picked up debris, uprooted trees, and produced intense hail.

Glencoe resident Matt Squires was on his way home from work when he got up close and personal with the twister, southwest of Glencoe.

“Just debris flying and spinning in the field and on the road, and then it just exploded. The whole property just took off. Stuff flying everywhere. Trees falling. Then I noticed the barn got eaten up pretty quick,” he exclaimed.

• PHOTOS: ‘Supercell’ tornado touches down in Glencoe area

At the Gould family home, several trees were knocked down and a barn damaged. Wendy Gould says the family was having supper when she saw the approaching funnel cloud.

“I went down to the basement. And within 30 seconds Eddie and our son and our dogs came downstairs. And then it was just like a freight train. It got really, really loud, and just you could hear things like banging and clanging,” she explained.

The Western University based Northern Tornadoes Project says preliminary findings indicate an EF0 tornado touched down.

EF0 is the weakest level but can produce winds between 90 km/h and 130 km/h.

“Even that amount of windspeed is enough to snap and uproot full-grown trees. It’s enough to take out large sections of barns, especially if they’re older barns,” said Aaron Jaffe of the NTP.

“Not in this case, as far as we know, thankfully, but in other cases EF0s can cause injuries and loss of life,” said Jaffe.

The tornado hit several properties southwest of Glencoe – an area wide open and sparsely populated.

On a lot at Old Airport Road and Concession Line, where families camp for the summer, two trailers were knocked over, a pickup truck damaged, and a porta-potty disappeared – its whereabouts unknown. Three chickens were lost in a small poultry operation.

Kyley McGregor and her son, seven-year-old Maverick, had been planning to move into their trailer this weekend. They arrived to find it overturned and destroyed.

“Honestly, I laughed. I laughed. I was not expecting this at all. It’s one of those things where if you don’t laugh, you cry. So, I laughed,” she said.

Kyley’s aunt, Sherry Hallworth, was helping her clean up.

“I’m blown away by the destruction and just thankful nobody was here,” she said.

In the meantime, a team continues to survey the area to determine how large the tornado was and how widespread the damage.