Ottawa rebuilds following destruction
Hundreds are still reeling after twisters hit region, levelling their homes
GATINEAU, QUE.— Residents from across Canada’s national capital region who were hit by Friday’s devastating tornadoes have started rebuilding their homes — and their lives.
Festus John worried about his future Monday in a Gatineau, Que., community centre that had been transformed into an emergency shelter for hundreds of people unable to return home.
The 35-year-old Christian man fled to the United States from Nigeria five years ago after marrying a Muslim woman and receiving threats against his life. John was one of hundreds who crossed by land into Quebec in January in the hopes of seeking asylum in Canada. He only recently moved to Gatineau. While he escaped without injury when a tornado struck, John’s home — and the documents that he needed for his upcoming refugee hearing — were not so lucky. High-speed winds tore off the roof and rain flooded the basement where he had been staying.
“I lost everything,” he said. “The evidence is gone. So I don’t know how the situation can work out for me.”
John was one of many still struggling in the aftermath of Friday’s tornadoes, which devastated several communities on both sides of the Ottawa River.
Life through much of the region appeared to be on the verge of returning to normality after a weekend in which hundreds of thousands of residents were without electricity. On Monday, hydro crews reconnected power in most areas.
Schools in Ottawa were shuttered Monday and most federal civil servants stayed home as city staff contended with power outages at hundreds of traffic signals across the city. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said he expected schools to reopen in most areas Tuesday and the request to keep the roads clear would be lifted.
But hundreds of residents in Gatineau as well as the suburban community of Nepean and the Ontario village of Dunrobin, where whole homes were levelled by Friday’s twisters, were still reeling.
“This is a project that’s going to take months and months, if not a couple of years, to get all the houses up and built again,” Watson said.