Ottawa residents face Mother Nature's fury in July

Summer of extreme weather From tornadoes to hail storms, Ottawa residents have faced a lot of severe weather this summer. CTV's Dave Charbonneau reports.

The month of July gave Ottawa residents the wrath of Mother Nature in summer. There was a long stretch of high humidity, a vicious hailstorm, tornadoes, and smoky air.

It has turned out to be a familiar scene in Ottawa. Hundreds of trees down after Friday's hailstorm.

Revelstoke resident Garth Dickinson had a giant tree fall right on top of his house.

"We heard this gigantic spruce tree, make the noise and hit against the house. It was all the way up to on top of the roof up there on the second floor," says Dickinson. "There was a big branch that plunged right through the roof and through the ceiling in our room upstairs, so pretty exciting. Pretty dramatic."

Just down the street, Sam Rothwell lost both his cars due to the storm.

"My wife and I, as the hail was coming down, came outside to kind of tarp the cars. And just as we got back to the door, the tree came down on both vehicles."

This is déjà vu for Rothwell who also lost two cars during last year's derecho.

"This is the second time in 14 months," said Rothwell.

Tornadoes, a derecho, and hail the size of golf balls. Is this the normal for Ottawa summers?

Experts say they need more data.

"These very much are rapid onset events," says Simon Eng, Northern Hail Project research meteorologist. "When you have a day when there's the potential for severe thunderstorms, that is one of the components that really need to emphasize, is to be closely monitoring those conditions, because by the time the sky is changing, you might not have time to take shelter."

In the Mooney's Bay area, Ken Leese has a mountain of debris scattered on his front lawn.

"We're waiting to find out whether the city is going to provide any help or whether we're responsible for this ourselves," said Leese.

In a statement sent to CTV News, the City of Ottawa says its crews will be out shortly.

"More than 110 tree-related service requests have been received, and crews have begun the removal of debris as part of the ongoing cleanup efforts," says Jim Lethbridge, Area Manager, Emergency Planning and Response. "Residents with tree debris are encouraged to bring them to the curb, as the City will begin collecting them this week."

Globally, July 2023 was the hottest month on record.

"I think climate change is real," says Dickinson. "And yeah, it has been amazing. One thing after another, after another."