Tornado ravages Opeongo Trail Resort, extensive F2 damage through Combermere
This tornado, the most destructive of the outbreak, touched down at 8:30pm and devastated the village of Combermere. On the ground for 29km and with a width of 400m, forest was completely decimated along the twister’s path, with trees snapped, shorn off and debarked. Hardest hit was the Opeongo Resort, a trailer park and campground where dozens of vehicles and campers were destroyed. Most were crushed by falling trees, but a few were blown apart.
Several cottages on the property were also heavily damaged or destroyed, one of which had its roof and a few walls torn away. Miraculously, no injuries were reported at the park, however Environment Canada investigators speculated that this may not have been the case had the heavy forest not born the brunt of the winds which likely prevented vehicles and cottages from being picked up and thrown. As the tornado moved on, more cottages were damaged and destroyed along the Opeongo River, and the Home Hardware in town had its roof ripped off.
This was one of seventeen tornadoes that touched down in Southern and Eastern Ontario during the evening hours of August 2, 2006. Until it was surpassed in 2009, the tornado outbreak set a record as the largest tornado outbreak ever recorded in Ontario. The other tornadoes:
