A small tornado tore through Drummondville, Que., Saturday, Environment Canada has confirmed, knocking down trees and leaving tens of thousands of homes and businesses without power at its peak.
The F-0 twister, the lowest on the tornado scale that hits F-5, had sustained winds of 120 km/h.
The tornado tore the roof off the town’s community centre on Brock St., as 10 people worked on the building’s first floor. Pieces of the roof flew across the street, damaging a restaurant and nearby parked cars.
No one was injured.
“The winds were much stronger at four stories high, at the roof level, than they were on the ground,” Environment Canada’s Rene Heroux told CTV Montreal. “There was a lot of suction effect to really lift up that roof.”
Environment Canada had issued a tornado warning for the region before the twister hit. The storm system, which was caused by a cold front moving through the region, included rain and lightning.
At its peak, about 90,000 homes and businesses were without power. As of Sunday afternoon, about 2,400 Hydro-Quebec clients were still without power.
The tornado was the fifth of the season in Quebec. Heroux said six tornadoes usually hit the province each season.
With a report from CTV Montreal’s Mark Shalhoub
