Around 9 p.m. on June 21, a thunderstorm descended on Northern Ontario communities east of Lake Nipissing. Devastating winds ripped trees from the ground, damaging homes, vehicles, and businesses. By 10 p.m., the communities had lost power and cell service.
The Municipality of Calvin and the Township of Bonfield declared states of emergency. Most municipal roads were impassable, and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) closed Highway 17 between Bonfield and Mattawa due to hazardous conditions.
The storm’s sudden appearance left campers in both Samuel de Champlain and Algonquin provincial parks stranded, with more than a hundred injuries reported from downed trees. Fire departments from Calvin, Bonfield, Mattawa, East Ferris, North Bay, and West Nipissing, along with OPP officers, worked through the night to evacuate them.
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The OPP reported a particularly harrowing situation in Algonquin Provincial Park. A mother and her 13-year-old son were camping in the park when the thunderstorm collapsed a tree onto their tent. The tree seriously injured the son. The mother triggered an “SOS” signal on her device that transmitted their coordinates to emergency services.
The weather made it impossible to reach the son by helicopter, so the Upper Ottawa Valley OPP rode ATVs to the nearest park entrance. Along with members of the OPP Emergency Response Team, Algonquin Park Rangers, and the Renfrew County Paramedics’ Sierra Team, the rescuers trekked through the storm, navigating trails littered with downed trees and dense brush. They didn’t have chainsaws and were forced to use handsaws to clear the paths.
When the rescuers reached North Depot Lake, where the mother and son were camping, the team launched a canoe, paddling to the campsite. Upon arrival, the rescuers began immediate first aid.
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At 8:30 a.m. the next morning, the Ministry of Natural Resources landed a float plane on North Depot Lake, transporting the son to a nearby hospital where he received treatment for his injuries.
The rescuers used buses to evacuate campers with less severe injuries to the Mike Rodden Arena in Mattawa where members of the Red Cross, the Royal Canadian Legion, and the Mattawa Lions attended to them. Rescuers evacuated 133 people from Samuel de Champlain and approximately 100 people from Algonquin to the arena.
Bonfield lifted its state of emergency on June 30 and Calvin on July 2. On its Facebook page, Bonfield said that roads in the area are 90 per cent recovered. “The emergency has ended, but please know that staff will continue to repair the roads, and we will begin the process of putting together a funding application to the province,” the township said. It also asked anyone with questions about private property damage to reach out to the township about the province’s Disaster Relief Fund for Ontarians.
The Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP), a tornado research group based out of Western University, has since performed a ground and drone survey of the impacted area. According to the NTP, the damage was caused by a downburst. These are powerful winds that descend during a thunderstorm, spreading outwards after hitting the ground. They can cause similar damage to an EF0 tornado (105 to 137 km/h winds) or an EF1 tornado (138 to 177 km/h winds).
The NTP said this downburst was equivalent to at least an EF1. “It does appear comparable in intensity with some of the strongest downburst damage NTP has seen to date,” the organization said on Facebook.
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