40 years later, memories of deadly Barrie tornado still vivid for survivors

It’s been 40 years since a deadly tornado touched down in Barrie.

The tornado that touched down in Barrie on May 31, 1985 came and went within minutes, but for many who lived through it, the memories of that day are forever etched in their minds.

Saturday marks 40 years since the deadly tornado outbreak that devastated communities across central Ontario, with Barrie among the hardest hit.

• Extended | Remembering the Barrie Tornado
• Revisiting the deadly 1985 tornadoes that struck central Ontario 40 years later

“It was quite overwhelming to say the least,” said former Barrie fire chief Jack McAllister, who led the city’s emergency response efforts at the time.

The twister that struck Barrie was classified as an EF4, packing wind speeds up to 400 km/h. It carved a path of destruction, leaving nothing untouched.

Among those injured that day was Catherine Kenwell, a journalist at the time who was driving during rush hour when the tornado hit.

“I was hit on the side of the head and then I had all of that glass driven into the back of my head,” she described, adding a chunk of metal thrashing through the front grill. “It was under the steering wheel and… probably another six inches and it would probably hit my stomach.”

Kenwell said the trauma from that day lingers. “It’s not something that will ever leave us.”

Longtime resident Natalie Ferrier and her husband watched their home crumble around them.

“My husband yelled, ‘Hit the floor!” she recalled.” He got thrown back into the garage. I was near the front by poplar trees that we had growing beside the garage... blew away... laying on top me."

Despite the devastation, Ferrier and her late husband chose to rebuild and remain at the same address since that day.

McAllister, now 89, said the response efforts lasted nearly a month and led to significant improvements in how the city prepares for disasters.

“Lessons are always learned when you have a situation like this,” he said.

“It’s always there,” Kenwell added. “But so is the strength we found in getting through it.”

The storms that ripped through the region that day killed 12 people, including eight in Barrie, injured more than 150, and destroyed nearly 1,000 homes and businesses.