Residents and campers who were in the area of Frelighsburg, in Estrie, found themselves stranded after a major storm which broke out within a few minutes on Sunday, causing several trees to fall on one of the main roads.
“We have never seen so much rain fall, it was windy, we couldn’t see anything,” said a woman who was in a residence in the area when the storm hit hard for about fifteen minutes, late in the morning.
The storm hit this municipality in the county of Brome-Missisquoi almost without warning, leaving in its wake many large trees which ended up on the ground, notably on Chemin du Moulin à Scie, which provides access to Camping des Chutes Hunter .
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“At the moment, people are a little stuck because there are trees that have fallen on the road,” the witness explained by telephone.
“There are the firefighters who work with the people on the farm to try to clear the road,” she stressed.
A tornado involved?
Met just after the storm, her neighbor told her she had seen a tornado with her own eyes, a claim that is still difficult to confirm from Environment Canada, according to meteorologist Gerardo Velonza.
While the federal agency has learned of trees that fell at a campground, it is too early to say whether the damage was caused by a tornado, the meteorologist said.
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It will take several days for Environment Canada experts to assess the damage on the ground.
One less bridge blocking everything
For two years, a wooden bridge that crosses over the Brochets River and provides access to Route 237, offering another route to campers and residents, has been closed by the Quebec Ministry of Transport for safety reasons.
With this route missing, people in the area were not able to leave the area after the storm, with the road back to the village being blocked.
“The firefighters asked us to turn around for the next hour as they are trying to clear the road,” said the witness who was also trying to leave the area.
“We’re in a really bad situation,” said his mother on the other end of the line, who would like the work to reopen the bridge to move forward more quickly.
