‘We pulled together’: One year after EF2 tornado hits Ayr, community reflects on resilience

An EF2 tornado left heavy damage behind in 2024. CTV’s Hannah Schmidt reflects with the community.

It’s been just over one year since an EF2 tornado tore through the small community of Ayr.

No one was hurt but strong winds left a trail of damage in its wake.

This week, residents are marking the anniversary and reflecting on the town’s recovery.

“When it hits home, it makes you stand up and take notice,” said Dave Vincent, owner of Team Vincent Motorsports.

The tornado struck the town on Aug. 17, 2024, ripping through Cowan Park and damaging several businesses along the way. Video footage released by the Township of North Dumfries showed the violent winds tearing through the park, a stark reminder of the power of nature.

The Home Hardware location on Northumberland Street was heavily damaged, with parts of the roof and walls torn off the building. To this day, it is still being repaired.

“It’s been a trying time,” said owner Jeff Seydel. “[I’ve got] a few more grey hairs I would say.”

While it’s been a long year of re-building, Seydel said construction progress is steady and nearly complete. The store is now standing strong with a new roof and wall.

“We ended up restoring the building, and then that process required permits and then, of course, after that process, they started the construction,” Seydel explained. “After the construction, our team come back in and we actually start merchandizing and putting things together to get ready to open.”

Team Vincent Motorsports is located next door to the Home Hardware and was also hit. Vincent said seeing both businesses damaged in one storm was overwhelming.

“I believe that these days, we will take the warnings a lot more seriously than we have in the past,” he said. “Our losses here at the dealership were in around $1 million of product...it was very devastating.”

Work to restore Cowan Park and nearby buildings has been completed.

Mayor Sue Foxton said replacing the trees that were uprooted remains top priority for the township.

“We had to buy a lot of trees and replace a lot of trees, but the saddest thing is you can’t replace the 100-year-old trees that we lost,” she said. “Now there’s more trees to plant that we will plant this fall.”

For residents, the tornado serves as both a memory of destruction and a testament to community spirit.

Mayor Foxton emphasized, “We pulled together and that’s been shown time and time again over the past couple of years. We’re thankful that the tornado turned and went all the way down the Nith River. If it had stayed on its path, it would have wiped out the town of Ayr. We were blessed.”

The Home Hardware aims to open its doors to customers by mid to late September.