Four years since powerful storm unleashed fury in Barrie neighbourhood

Tuesday marks four years since a powerful storm, with winds topping 210 kilometres per hour, caused mass damage in a Barrie neighbourhood. A sneak attack, Environment Canada called it, that left destruction in its wake.

July 15, 2021, an EF-2 tornado tore through the south east end of the city for roughly 10 to 15 unnerving and terrifying minutes as residents hunkered down where they could, waiting for it to end.

Experts reported the destructive storm tracked across an area 12.5 kilometres long and 510 metres wide.

Now, researchers say they’ve made new findings about a tornado “outbreak” that occurred that day.

“Initially, we knew that there were several tornadoes, and several of them were strong, so several EF-2 tornadoes, but over time, looking at satellite imagery, we noticed several other tracks,” said Dr. David Sills, director of the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP). “So, it was quite an eventful day, as far as tornadoes go.”

The Barrie tornado displaced dozens of residents after their homes were deemed unsafe, an outcome that would carry over several years for some.

The storm prompted researchers to explore why so many houses were torn apart, with a focus on strengthening builds to avoid this in the future.

“It was enough damage that we could see the weaknesses in the structures, but not so much damage that the whole structure was blown away, fortunately,” Dr. Sills said. “Definitely there were some deficiencies.”

Experts have since called on builders to install hurricane straps to help homes better withstand severe winds and prevent roofs from being easily ripped away.

“If you do build subdivisions with hurricane clips or these long screws they have now to keep the roof joists attached to the wall, then you can make the home resilient to basically EF-2 tornadoes,” Dr. Sills added. “Which is more than 95 per cent of the problem because most tornadoes are EF-2s or less.”

Dr. Sills noted that they hope to shift the current focus of building codes to include the force of a tornado.

“Right now, the building code is more concerned about snow loads pushing down on a roof and we’re trying to get the building code interested in winds pulling up on a roof,” he explained.

According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, the tornado resulted in more than 2,200 insurance claims, amounting to over $100 million in damage. Officials said 11 people were injured.

NTP also reports the July 2021 Barrie twister was the second most powerful of the 100 tornadoes documented across Canada that year, just slightly behind the May 25 storm that hit Petit Lac Bull Rock in Quebec with wind speeds of 215 km/h.