Clean up efforts underway at Wilderness Tours after possible tornado

Environment Canada is assessing damage to confirm if a tornado touched down along the Ottawa River in Beachburg, Ontario.

Vice President of Wilderness Tours, Joel Kowalski, says they’re working on clean up efforts and removing trees from the rapids.

He says it’s part arborist work, part swift water rescue work, as they try to clear the rapids to safely raft through.

Kowalski says either or a tornado, or close to a tornado touched down in front of the raft launch and created a water spout.

He adds about a quarter of their raft fleet was tossed in the air across the river, but not severely damaged.

The local rafter says the forest has been levelled in a lot of areas, but luckily no casualties or injuries have been reported.

Kowalski says when a tree is knocked over in whitewater they call it a strainer, because water flows through, but anything that washes up against it can create a deadly scenario.

The Vice President at Wilderness Tours  says they’ve focused clean up efforts on the first few rapids and expect to be done this evening.

Kowalski wanted to thank everyone who helped clean up the river.

Wilderness Tours plan to be back to regular operation tomorrow (Thursday, July 15th, 2021).

To check availability at Wilderness Tours and book over the phone you can call 1-(888)-723-8669 or go online.

About 130 kilometers (km) east of Beachburg, in Maynooth, the Northern Tornadoes Project confirmed an EF1 tornado with wind speeds up to 145km/hour with a 2.3 km path that was up to 180 meters wide.

Possible tornado yesterday near Beachburg Ontario video taken by Zack Splaines mom #onstorm pic.twitter.com/TPACTLwMYu

— Brandon Houck (@HouckisPokisewx) July 14, 2021