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Storm damage is shown on Suzanne Serhan’s farm in Ulverton, Que on Tuesday as Environment Canada issues severe thunderstorm and tornado watches across parts of southern Quebec.HO/The Canadian Press
Environment Canada has issued severe thunderstorm and tornado watches for parts of southern Quebec.
Montreal is among the areas at risk of thunderstorms capable of producing strong wind gusts, hail and heavy rain.
Environment Canada meteorologist Kate Leclerc says it will be an “active weather day” across the south of the province, from east to west.
Several regions of the province are under orange tornado watches, which warn of potential damage to infrastructure, homes and the natural environment if a twister occurs.
The owner of a horse farm and campground in Ulverton, in the Estrie region, says her property was hit by a brief and violent storm that resembled a tornado early Tuesday.
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Suzanne Serhan says she noticed her horses didn’t want to come down from the field like they usually did, then looked up and saw a dark sky full of swirling black clouds.
“The wind picked up. Then things started swirling. I could hear things cracking all around me,” she said in a phone interview.
Serhan said that was followed by a violent windstorm, without rain, that knocked down trees all around the property. Luckily, she said none of her staff or animals were hurt, although she heard some of her neighbours experienced more property damage than she did.
The property serves as a rehabilitation facility and sanctuary for animals taken in by the Galahad SPCA.
The organization put out some information for farm owners in areas under tornado watches, including securing farm equipment away from animals, filling tubs with drinking water in case watering systems fail, and attaching owner information to horses’ manes in case they get lost.
Galahad’s founder, Chamie Angie Cadorette, said the horses in Ulverton appeared to have sensed the storm coming.
“It’s instinct that made them gather together at the top of the hill where they were protected,” she said.
The area where Serhan lives was under an orange tornado watch on Tuesday morning, although Leclerc said no tornadoes had been reported.
She said a watch means that the necessary conditions to form a tornado are present, like ingredients for a recipe that has not yet been put together.
“A metaphor would be, you have all the ingredients to (make) a poutine,” she said. “You have the gravy, the sauce, but the poutine is not is not there. You haven’t made it, but you have all the ingredients, so that’s our watch.”