RIGAUD — A possible tornado occurred near Rigaud, in Montérégie, Monday evening. Environment Canada had issued a severe thunderstorm watch and a tornado warning for southwestern Quebec Monday afternoon, in addition to severe thunderstorm alerts in the Laurentians.
Images were circulating on social networks suggesting that a tornado had struck near the town of Rigaud, in Montérégie. Questioned on this subject, Jean-Philippe Bégin, meteorologist at Environment Canada, clarified that it was too early to confirm the event beyond all doubt. However, he added that his team was able to confirm that these images were indeed taken in this area, and that “everything points to a tornado”.
He indicated that a team of researchers from the Northern Tornadoes Project, at Western University, in Ontario, will travel to the site tomorrow to investigate this meteorological event.
According to the acting director of the Rigaud Fire Safety Service, Guillaume Roy, four houses were damaged, including one which had its roof torn off. Two barns and two grain silos were also damaged.
At one such facility, Mr. Roy says a garage containing chickens has disappeared.
He said Monday evening that fortunately no one was injured.
On its Facebook page, the municipality of Très-Saint-Rédempteur, very close to Rigaud, said that a residence and agricultural buildings were damaged by the tornado, and asked its residents to be extra careful in the coming hours.
The MP for Soulanges, Marilyne Picard, for her part mentioned on her Facebook page that she was “wholeheartedly” with the residents of her constituency and affirmed that teams were on site to help the affected citizens.
More storm watches
Environment Canada indicates that a severe thunderstorm watch is in effect in the areas covering the Ottawa Valley towards the mountainous regions north of Montreal, namely the Laurentians, Mont-Tremblant, the Saint-Michel-des-Tremblant sector. Saints, the city of Montreal, the Vaudreuil sector and Montérégie. Thus, destructive winds, large hail and intense rain in places can occur, meteorologists warn.
Flash flooding and accumulation of water on roads are likely due to the rain.
If this watch for violent storms seemed to be coming to an end, around 9 p.m. on Monday, meteorologist Jean-Philippe Bégin confirmed that the Montérégie sector, among others, was still under close surveillance.
The critical period seemed to be around 6 p.m., even if storms will continue throughout the evening, said Maxime Desharnais, meteorologist for Environment Canada, early Monday evening.
If a tornado approaches your area, Environment Canada recommends going indoors, to the lowest level room, away from windows and exterior walls.
“If we are in a car, we try to get away from the area as much as possible, and if we are at home, we take refuge in our basement,” Mr. Desharnais cited as an example.
The meteorologist said it was relatively early in the season to have tornado warnings like this, usually issued when the weather is warmer.
“There was not necessarily a lot of heat as we typically see, but it was really the interaction of the air mass with the winds that made the situation favorable,” explained Mr. Desharnais. . He added that this special case will be the subject of a study by meteorologists.
The strong winds affecting different regions of Quebec have already caused several power outages, notably in the regions of Lanaudière, Montérégie, Laurentides and Estrie, Hydro-Québec said. As of around 10:20 p.m. Monday, there were approximately 30,000 homes without power across the province.
Caroline Des Rosiers, spokesperson for Hydro-Québec, confirmed Monday afternoon that there were more than 210 teams deployed in the most affected regions, “in order to restore power as quickly as possible.” She recalled that the current weather conditions, with strong winds and heavy rain, are an additional challenge for the teams on the ground.
There is no recovery time for outages, and Hydro-Québec is still “assessing the situation,” which is evolving rapidly, according to the spokesperson.
Hydro-Québec reminds the population to keep a distance of at least 10 meters from electrical wires that have fallen to the ground, for safety reasons.
