CALEB NICKERSON
MUNICIPALITY OF PONTIAC Sept. 21, 2018
While 800 km away from home, Stephan Quessy missed none of the destruction as an EF3 tornado tore through his neighbourhood in Breckenridge on Friday afternoon.
The security camera footage he watched on his phone captured a maelstrom of debris flying about the property, as well as the exact moment the wind pried the roof off his neighbour’s house.
The next morning, power lines were strewn about, with one laying in Quessy’s pool, and shards of glass, shingles and wood littering the property on chemin Plante. Windows were smashed and a gaping hole exposed the attic of his home.
Still, his property was in a much better state than some of his neighbours.
Candice Trivett Koulaib, owner of the home that lost a roof in Quessy’s video, was sorting though the detritus on Saturday morning and had trouble putting the loss into words.
“Somebody called us and asked if we were home,” she said. “When we told them no, they said, ‘You need to come home, you have no roof.’”
She said that she and her husband had been living in the residence on chemin Asaret since July 2015, but would be staying in a hotel for the foreseeable future while they waited on their insurance company.
On the municipality’s border with Aylmer, Linda Giraldeau returned to her property on chemin Perry just after the storm hit to find she lost the home she’s lived in for 32 years with the remains strewn hundreds of metres across her back field. She added that she had extensive damage to her barns and had about 30 tonnes of grain sitting exposed to the elements.
“I first saw my three barns, my lean-to,” she said, describing arriving at the scene. “I was on the Bluetooth with my sister, I said, ‘I lost a barn, I lost two barns … I lost my house.’”
She was thankful for the large contingent of neighbours and friends that had come to help her pick up the pieces on Saturday afternoon. She said that friends had generously loaned her the use of an RV while she got back on her feet.
“I have to salvage everything I can because I don’t have any insurance,” she said.
Back in Breckenridge, across the street from Quessy, Grant Hollett and Laila Waageng lost the roof to their garage as well as several windows. The flag pole in their front yard sat askew, bent at nearly a 45 degree angle. Waageng said that she had told Hollett to head to the basement, and was on her way to follow him when the twister passed through.
“I knew I wasn’t going to make it to the basement, so I stood inside in between the walls,” she said. “The door [blew] open and everything went in there. I was so scared.”
Councillor Leslie-Anne Barber was in Ottawa at the time of the storm, but returned to find felled trees and extensive damage to the home on chemin Fortin that she’s lived in for three years.
“I don’t recognize our backyard,” she said, noting that they believe the house structure shifted, though they were still waiting on an insurance estimator at the time.
Her husband, Brent Leonard, was on his way home at the time and witnessed the storm pass from his car on Hwy. 148.
“The car was wobbling, you could feel the pressure,” he said.
Over on chemin Sumac Ouest, Bill Bennoude and his family were lucky to be able to leave their home, as multiple felled trees had made the road impassable only a few metres down from their driveway.
“I saw the trees bending, all of these trees, bending,” he said, describing the view from his living room as the storm made landfall. “My wife, she comes down and says, ‘Get the hell out of there.’ It was really scary.”
Bennoude lost several vehicles and his boat to fallen trees but was just glad that his family was safe.
“I can’t believe it, but I mean, at least I’m alive anyways. Me and the wife and the kids, nobody got hurt,” he said. “The rest, you know, you can replace it anyway, it’s just material.”
The tornado originally touched down in Dunrobin, Ont. before crossing the Ottawa River to Breckenridge and on to Gatineau. Around 20 homes were destroyed in the Municipality of Pontaic, with another 75 damaged.
Mayor Joanne Labadie, Fire Chief Richard Groulx and Director General Benedikt Kuhn were out in the community on Saturday morning, surveying the damage and offering assistance to residents.
“We had about 20 to 30 calls last night after the storm,” explained Groulx. “In Luskville, Breckenridge part of the municipality is the most hit. The other spots we have trees on wires and things like that, but nothing like here.”
He noted that there was only one person taken to hospital with minor injuries .
““The next step is cleaning up the roads, but there’s some roads right now that wires are down so we are waiting for Hydro Quebec to show up and tell us that we can clear the road without being electrocuted,” he continued. “Other than that, people have to call their insurance. It’s a major mop-up that will take a few weeks.”
Labadie was concerned for her constituents, but was heartened by the camaraderie that she was seeing in the aftermath of the storm.
“You just see the resilience, hearing all the chainsaws this morning,” she said. “Neighbours working together and helping each other.”
The municipality is no stranger to the wrath of nature, having experienced catastrophic flooding last spring that some residents are still recovering from. The municipal hall was open over the weekend to house victims and provide potable water and other resources.
Premier Philippe Couillard took time off from the campaign trail to make a stop in the affected areas on Saturday afternoon, along with Pontiac MNA André Fortin and MP Will Amos.
“It’s so surprising and terrible to see the disaster,” he said, speaking to the press. “The good news is here, people helping each other, that’s something that we always see. Fortunately, no fatalities, no serious injuries.”
He announced that the government’s donation of $1 million to the Red Cross would be available for victims of the tornado.
At press time, the municipality had announced additional garbage pickup in the affected areas on Sept. 25, as well as additional organic pickup for fallen branches on Sept. 29 and 30. The municipality can be contacted for further details.
With files from Donald Teuma-Castelletti.