OTTAWA - Ontario Premier Doug Ford pledged the province's full support to Ottawa residents recovering from Friday's tornadoes.
Ford made the pledge Sunday after he arrived in Dunrobin, the Ottawa neighbourhood hardest hit by a pair of tornadoes that snapped power lines and levelled homes.
The premier was accompanied by city Mayor Jim Watson as he toured houses ravaged by the twister that tore through the tight-knit community before jumping the Ottawa River to Gatineau, Que.
He said it was heartbreaking to see the damage first-hand as he praised the resilience of local residents, many of whom were seeing the damage to their property for the first time.
Ford also met residents who have taken refuge at a local high school, and praised the work of volunteers helping them.
Meantime, hydro crews are working to untangle and repair fallen power lines and restore electricity to the region. At one point more than 200,000 hydro customers were blacked out, but as of early Sunday morning, the Hydro Ottawa and Hydro Quebec websites reported the number had been reduced to fewer than 80,000 - 70,000 in the Ottawa area and 8,300 in the Outaouais region, which encompasses Gatineau. Altogether, 11,000 were without electricity in Quebec.
Late Saturday night, Environment Canada has confirmed that it was two separate tornadoes that hit the Ottawa area.
The national weather agency says a powerful EF-3 category twister - with winds that reached 265 kilometres per hour - ripped through the Ottawa neighbourhood Dunrobin, Ont., about 35 kilometres west of the downtown area, before moving on to devastate a densely populated area of Gatineau.
The agency says that at almost the same time a second, slightly less powerful twister, touched down in the south Ottawa neighbourhood of Arlington Woods.
The twin tornadoes caused massive damage obliterating dozens of homes, tossing vehicles around, snapping huge trees and injuring several people, at least two of whom were admitted to hospital in critical condition.
At one point more than 200,000 hydro customers were blacked out, but as of early Sunday morning, the Hydro Ottawa and Hydro Quebec websites reported the number had been reduced to fewer than 80,000 - 70,000 in the Ottawa area and 8,300 in the Outaouais region, which encompasses Gatineau.
Hydro One said as of Sunday afternoon, more than 53,000 customers had no electricity. However, they said they had restored power to over 360,000 customers.
The Ontario government announced Saturday that it was activating the province's Disaster Recovery Assistance program in affected areas, while the Quebec government announced it would give the Red Cross $1 million to help with relief efforts.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also tweeted Saturday day that he'd spoken with the mayors of Ottawa and Gatineau to offer federal assistance.
If you wish to donate to those impacted by the tornado, click here for a full list of charities and campaigns to help the people of Ottawa and Gatineau.
- With a file from Jackie Rosen/NEWSTALK1010