Last Sunday an F3 tornado wripped through the sleepy lakeside town of Goderich, Ontario, an hour's drive north of us. Goderich is a town very special to me and my family. For six years we had lived ten minutes away from this quaint little city Queen Victoria had dubbed "the prettiest town in Canada". It has a population of approximately 8,000, one grocery store, two department stores and a historical octagonal shaped town square that overlooks Lake Huron. The town's number one industry is their salt mine that is perched on this coastline. It extends under the lake at a size double that of the city itself, making it the largest salt mine in the world.
The beaches, historical buildings and breathtaking sunsets has made it a popular destination for many, and the reason why I fell in love with this city. So when we heard about the tornado which was the largest in the area since 1996, we were shocked and horribly saddened. Yesterday, we finally got out to Goderich to see the aftermath of our beautiful city. Alot of the cleanup was done, but there was still lots to be done. Streets looked bare from trees being torn from the ground. But mostly it was the town square itself that got the worse damage. It was still completely shutdown so I was unable to go down and witness the devastation myself, but what I saw was bad enough.
The beaches, historical buildings and breathtaking sunsets has made it a popular destination for many, and the reason why I fell in love with this city. So when we heard about the tornado which was the largest in the area since 1996, we were shocked and horribly saddened. Yesterday, we finally got out to Goderich to see the aftermath of our beautiful city. Alot of the cleanup was done, but there was still lots to be done. Streets looked bare from trees being torn from the ground. But mostly it was the town square itself that got the worse damage. It was still completely shutdown so I was unable to go down and witness the devastation myself, but what I saw was bad enough.
Historical church with it's roof torn off was no match to the storm.
Siding torn off the back end of the old salt mine.
The new salt mine with it's dome wripped off.
On the opposite side of town, the salt mine's elevator didn't fair any better.
Messages were left all over buildings for the kindhearted souls of Goderich and surrounding area who helped out after the storm.