Storm Caused Much Damage...Jim Clueless!

As a guy that prides himself on trying to know all there is to know on a subject before actually doing it, I am embarrassed to say, this one got by me. I was 100% clueless as to the severity of the damage done to parts of Northern Ontario in the storm a week ago. In fact, I was worse that clueless...I was even unaware the storm happened...at all!

JUL.18 - LARGE STORMS LAST NIGHT, POSSIBLE TORNADOES, 2 DEATHSA woman was killed outside of Peterborough after being crushed by a tree, and another death in Algonquin Park. Possible tornado near North Bay, damage to houses, large amount of trees down, planes flipped over, etc. Over 300 trees knocked down in Peterborough and large areas of power down in that city. UPDATE: 2 CONFIRMED TORNADOS IN NEWMARKET (F0, F1)

Click here to view a TV news summary (Global) of the event, courtesy of SouthernOntarioWeather.com

Now that I have removed my head from my ass I find out that this storm devastated large parts of Algonquin Park and has left the portage routes in shambles. Downed trees are the biggest problem and although the progress of removing them is well under way, at this point there is no way of knowing how much will be completed by the time we wil be leaving. Below is a quoted from a tripper who just returned from the area will be visiting...

Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 9:11 pm

We came out at Brent on Saturday afternoon. We saw the crew working the 2.4k port on the Pet about noon on Saturday.. They were about 1/2 of the way to the Narrowbag lake end. Hard to say what your situation would be, I would think the main "hiway" portages would be cleared first, then the secondary routes, and finally the dead-enders. Some had no blow-down at all, others we were wishing for a skidder or chainsaw at minimum

This is a Link to the Official Ontario Parks Storm Damage Blog. Here you can get the most up to date info on what progress they have made in the park.

I also wanted to say a big thank you to Jen who was the person that let me know about the Algonquin situation in the comments section. Also, if you Jen or any of you are reading this and have been to the Cedar / Burtroot Lake area since the storm , please contact me at jim@capsizedcanoe.ca , as I would love to here descriptions of the trail conditions and see any pictures you would be willing to share.

Thanks for you time!!