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Clues 'painted' in sky of approaching twister by DOUG REED Curling wisps and fibres of cirrus clouds, forming like so many giant' white fluffy feathers, 45,000 to 50,000 feet above the ground, Friday afternoon, were the only clues of ap- proaching bad weather Similar cloud for- mation appeared just hours before two vicious twistered slammed into the Woodstock-Norwich- Brantford area (Oxford, Brant, Haldimand- Norfolk) at supper hour on Aug. 7, 1979. Another clue last Friday's foul weather was on ilfS way was a dropping barometer which finally bottomed oul a. 29.3 inches after falling for most of the day. By four in the af- ee _------- Sp e eee ternoon, after cool winds had picked up thanks to a cold front moving in from Lake Hurons, if started to grow darker. Then the rains came, followed by thunder and lightning and plenty of gale force winds. Then without warning six !wisters blew into Central Ontario slicing their way from Orangeville and Shelburne to Barrie and Tottenham. As they ripped through the province they spread havoc over a wide area and in some cases, virtually obliterated entire residential blocks. Bricks fell like con- fettias home after home exploded into a darkening sky. Friday's deadly twisters left at least 1,000 homeless, injured hundreds and killed 13. In many cases the only link with the out- side world was through the use of ham radio sets. Barrie radio and TV _ stations were knocked off the air for a time after power and telephone lines had been knocked out of com- mission. Premier Frank Miller who visited many of the stricken areas on Saturday promised, Ontario would provide immediate disaster releif. A spokesman for the federal government gave the same assurance. where damage will run into millions of dollars. Twelve people in the province died from injuries they received during the killer storms. -Photo by Peter Spohn Twister's brute force flips building This frame building was flipped over on its roof by the brute force of one of six twisters that raced through cen- tral Ontario last Friday afternoon. The above photo was taken in Barrie the = Twister 'bombs' village One of six twisters to slice their way through sections of central Ontario just before 4:30 p.m., Friday, all bui blew the village of Grand Valley ~off the face of the earth. Two people' were killed. 69 others were injured as almost every home in the community suffered some destruction from the rampaging tornado. The public library and two churches' were flattened as were literally scores of residential. dwellings. It was as though a bomber had unleased its payload, there was total destruction as far as the eye could see. The good in people Within hours of last Friday's half a dozen killer tornadoes, outside aid and volunteer assistance started to stream into those areas most badly hit by the twisters. alone i! was estimated that as many as 200 people had been billeted while others found their own accommodation just hours after twisters had ripped through a 100 km long corridor, 45 km wide from south of Friends, neighbours Owen Sound to Barrie. and relatives rallied together. Seores of claims An emergency ser- vices co-ordinator with the Red Cross is reported as saying the response ""from volunteers and people offering their homes to the homeless has been adjustors from as many as 200 insurance firms zeroed in on_ the devastated commun- ities. One company authroized its personnel 10 make out cheques for Bandage One, Ministry of Health's helicopter ambulance was_ pressed into service shortly after six vicious lornadoes ripped a path of death and destruction through central Ontario late Friday afternoon. The 'copter _' Bandage One on the job dropped off a supply of blood for Barrie's Royal Victoria Hospital. Saturday i! '"'tied down" at HDH to wail oul the turbulence left in the wake of Friday's killer storm whipped up by 500 km_ h (300 mph) winds. lay 31, | Vehicles sucked Not all the damage inflicted last Friday afternoon on Central Ontario by six twisters was heaped on buildings, power and telephone lines and poles. Dozens of motor-vehicles were tossed like dinky toys and wrecked beyond repair. That was especially true along Highway 400 at Barrie. There were reports of vehicles being sucked up by one twister and being lifted 100 feet in the air before the funnel released its grip. It was an afternoon of terror. In rural areas livestock often were killed by flying debris or were dashed up like toys to death after being caught out in open fields as the twister moved east. Drive sheds, barns and the oc- casional silo met much the same fale. Farm implements were destroyed by the topsy-turvy weather while roads leading into the devastated areas looked like battle zones, as the tor- nadoes vented their fury on everything in their path. In some cases, the vicious twisters skirted entire communties only to settle down on others with disastrous| results. | May 31, 1985, a black Friday in Ontario's history. ' NEW GRAY COACH AGENT overwhelming." the Barrie area 16] MAIN ST. 49-312 PENETANG MOTOR SALES Slacks Reg. Page 2, Luesuay, vunce +, azov up to $15,000 im- mediately. SELECTION FOR SUMMER Reg. up ae now *25 Arrow Shirts *25-°40 However, the final tab will run into the tens of millions of dollars given the hundreds of homes and factories that were literally flattened by the vicious tornadoes which ripped through the district with little warning. It has been estimated it will cost as much as $8 million to replace Barrie Raceway, for instance, which took much of the brunt of one of the twisters that touched down along a natural valley east and west of the raceway in the Highway 400 area of Barrie. Father's Day is Sun., June 16. 87 Main St., Penetanguishene 549-7682 ™-St 9530 F till 9:00 ---- ESSER TEE a RR A HS Spe Te a POTTS Ee a aaa