Clean-up efforts underway after tornado rips through Laurentians town

As recovery efforts get underway, hundreds of homes are still without power in the Laurentians after a tornado flattened trees and destroyed homes Saturday.

"It was scary. It was dark," said Yvon Sigouin on Monday as he cleaned up his property in St-Adolphe-d'Howard, about 100 kilometres northwest of Montreal, where the tornado hit.

The storm tore down trees steps away from Sigouin's house, destroying the gazebo he put up just two weeks ago.

The trees collapsed on his power supply, making him one of 3,000 residents without electricity after Saturday's storm.

Other residents fared worse. Winds reached 200 kilometres per hour, leaving many homes destroyed.

A house's roof was one of the many things destroyed during the tornado that hit St. Adolphe d'Howard on Saturday July 24, 2022. SOURCE: Info du Nord Sainte-Agathe

"It happened extremely fast," said firefighter Marie-Josee Lavigne.

Teams of workers have worked long hours to clean up in the tornado's path.

Pascal Prevost of tree-clearing service Abattage d'Arbres P.K. spent all day Monday in the bush, clearing roads and driveways.

"There's a lot of work to do," he said. "This area was ravaged."

As of midday Monday, 665 clients were still without electricity as a result of the storm, said Hydro-Quebec spokesperson Marie-Annick Gariepy.

Hydro workers set up roadblocks to repair fallen lines and hope to have everyone connected in the coming days.