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I was talking to our shipping clerk about having the building's ventilation system checked out and addressing some issues in the area she's in when I looked up behind her and out through her window. I hadn't seen a sky that dark since the sun had set the night before and it was just after 1PM. A truck driver came in at that moment and had a look in his eyes akin to a small boy who has just learned a HUGE secret about the dread math teacher and can't wait to share it with someone. That's when he informed us that he had overhead the calls from first responders about possible tornadoes in an area which turns out is about 25 miles from our plant. And from the look of the sky I figured nothing good was coming our way. (I am now kicking myself for not talking pictures but my emergency coordinator duties got in the way)
After giving our plant security guard instructions on monitoring both our weather station and security cameras, I stood ready to launch the violent storm scenario of our emergency response plan and had our shipping crew take cover. The rains and winds started just as I hung up the phone with him and you couldn't go 5 feet without getting completely soaked.
Luckily, despite the howling winds and massive amounts of rain that fell on us, no one was hurt and we sustained absolutely no damage. PHEW!
Unfortunately, others weren't so lucky and many houses and buildings throughout Quebec were damaged. Thousands are still without electricity this morning. And the violent 75MPH winds overturned 7 trucks on a bridge linking Montreal to it's south shore.
Centennial trees were even knocked to the ground.Man, I sure hope it wasn't because of my new red shoes...
“A thunderstorm is God's way of saying you spend too much time in front of the computer”
- author unknown
