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Photograph by Network News photographer Don Johnston -
No serious injuries were reported at Georgian Peaks, the hardest hit area of The Blue Mountains, but the private ski club and nearby cottages and condominiums sustained millions of dollars in damage
“It was unbelievable. I never felt more scared in my entire life,” said Georgian Peaks employee Nic Elias, who took shelter inside the club’s Alpine Centre as the twister ripped its steel roof from the rafters.
Severe winds flatted acres of crops, destroyed silos, flattened barns and damaged homes across The Blue Mountains in the Heathcote, Ravenna, Victoria Corners and Camperdown areas.
Witnesses say a twister then tracked to Georgian Peaks and across Hwy. 26 before breaking up in the Nottawasaga Bay. The nearby Craigleith Provincial Park — where people camped in tents and trailers — was unscathed.
Mayor Ellen Anderson described the destruction across The Blue Mountains as “horrendous,” but added it’s a “miracle” no one was seriously injured or killed.
“It’s very humbling that Mother Nature has this way of showing us just how insignificant we really are,” she said yesterday afternoon.
Witnesses at Georgian Peaks said the twister raced down the private ski hill, pulling cables from chair lifts and sending ski huts and ramps into the air, before ripping the roof and garage doors from the Alpine Centre and carving a path of destruction through cottages and condominiums.
Georgian Peaks general manager Rick Trumble said the Alpine Centre, which houses a large maintenance area, cafeteria and race club headquarters, sustained about $500,000 in damage. Yellow insulation was strewn across the resort and twisted metal lay around the steel building.
Several start and finish huts, valued at $10,000 apiece, were also destroyed.
Don Johnston with Mayor Hazel Mccallion
Don Johnston - Past President of
The Streetsville Founders’ Bread and Honey Festival
