Officials are warning people in the Ottawa area to brace for days without power in the wake of a tornado that ripped through the region yesterday afternoon.
They encouraged residents to stockpile food and water following the storm, which tore roofs off of homes, overturned cars and felled power lines in Dunrobin and in Gatineau.
“It looked like something you’d see in a movie, or you’d see in tornado valley in Oklahoma,” said Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, who had seen drone footage of the twister. “Nothing like this I’ve experienced in all my life living in Ottawa.”
(Sponsored)

Inspired by love and loss, donor Tom Moore triples Giving Tuesday donations
For Tom Moore, a retired tech executive and longtime Ottawa resident, giving back to The Ottawa Hospital isn’t just a gesture of generosity. It’s personal. Tom grew up on a

Invest with confidence: Hydro Ottawa funds technical studies for business retrofits
For Ottawa businesses, the opportunity to improve building performance has never been greater. Energy retrofits can cut emissions, strengthen operations, extend the life of assets, reduce operating costs, and position
More than 145,000 customers were without power in the city on Saturday morning as a result of damage that Hydro Ottawa CEO Bryce Conrad said was as bad or worse than that caused by a devastating ice storm in 1998.
Conrad said the outages come as a result of “cascading failure” of resources owned by provincial utility Hydro One.
Crews out in force, working to restore power in Albion Rd area. In the last few hours, power has been restored to more than 50,000 customers. #Ottcity #Ottnews pic.twitter.com/hmTs9ZIDtv
— Hydro Ottawa (@hydroottawa) September 22, 2018
Emergency crews still on scene in Arlington Woods. Numerous trees and power lines down. Please avoid area. #ottnews pic.twitter.com/4gTYmj834O
— Ottawa Fire Services (@OttFire) September 22, 2018
Meantime, the Ottawa Hospital tweeted that five people were being treated for storm-related injuries – down from six last night – with two people in critical condition, one in serious condition and two others are stable.
One of those patients arrived this morning, the hospital noted.
Meanwhile, officials said firefighters are going door-to-door to determine whether structures are safe to re-enter.
