Wild winds - but not a tornado - hit area on Thursday night

CENTRE WELLINGTON – Quite a storm swept through Centre Wellington overnight on June 25, leaving a trail of fallen trees, piles of hail and very soggy soil in low lying areas.

At Wildwinds Golf Links, southeast of Fergus, it brought down many trees and flooded golf cart paths – so much so that the course was closed on Friday and was expected to be closed all weekend.

“I could feel the house shake and there was hail on the ground,” said Trever Turner, superintendent of the golf course, who lives in an old farmhouse on the site.

“My barbecue blew across the yard. A window was broken. I called the owners when I saw the damage to the course.”

A tree removal service was on site by noon on Friday, cutting the downed trees and feeding them through a wood chipper.

Staff members were busy raking up debris, blowing the paths and filling holes left by branches when they hit the ground.

Turner provided a tour of the course and parts of golf cart paths were either blocked by trees or submerged in water.

Sand traps had become water hazards, and real water hazards were significantly deeper.

The cover of a wellhead was lifted off and came to rest some 30 feet from the well.

“I’ve worked here 17 years, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Turner said.

Guelph/Eramosa firefighters had a golf tournament scheduled for Friday that had to be cancelled and the course was likely to be closed for much of the weekend.

Turner said it would take a few days to get the course back in shape for the golfing public.

The storm

Environment Canada had warned of hail, tornado and wind risks earlier in the day on Thursday across most of southern Ontario.

People in Elora, Fergus, Alma and Arthur posted videos and photos of the storm damage on the Ontario Storm Reports Facebook page.

“That was an eventful night,” a poster from Fergus wrote. “Our mini-greenhouse flew away like Dorothy's house in the Wizard of Oz.”

There were photos of some dark and ominous clouds over Elora from another poster.

Someone in Alma posted photos of hail that covered the ground like snow in winter.

It doesn’t appear to have been more than a strong storm in these parts, but a tornado did touch down in Glencoe, in Middlesex County.

Tornado tips

According to ontario.ca, Ontario averages about 18 tornadoes a year, usually between May and September.

If a tornado does touch down:

• the safest place to be is an underground shelter, basement or safe room;
• if you don't have a basement, go to the centre of an interior room on the lowest level away from corners, windows, doors and outside walls (put as many walls as possible between you and the outside);
• get under a sturdy piece of furniture and use your arms to protect your head and neck; and
• don't open windows or doors.

If you're outdoors:

• don't wait until you see the tornado to get inside;
• if you can't get inside, lie flat in a low-lying area such as a ditch and cover your head with your hands; and
• don't go under an overpass or bridge (you're safer in a low, flat area).

If you're in a mobile home, go to the nearest sturdy building or shelter immediately as mobile homes do not offer much protection.