Legault visits tornado site as residents pick up the pieces.
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MASCOUCHE — “When it came, it came too fast. We didn’t have time to do nothing,” Michel Vachon said Tuesday. “I lost my friend. He went this way, and I (went) in my home and had just the time to close the door.”
Vachon was building a small bridge with Jacques Lefebvre, 59, on Monday afternoon when they saw a tornado approach the Montreal suburb. While Vachon went home, Lefebvre only had enough time to take shelter in his shed. As the twister carved a destructive path through the residential neighbourhood, snapping and uprooting mature trees and even ripping one home off its foundation, it picked up Lefebvre’s shed and destroyed it, killing him.
Two other people were injured when the tornado touched down.
Vachon said he’d been friends with Lefebvre for 30 years, and would remember him as someone who was always ready to help others. “Everybody liked him,” he said. “He’s a very good neighbour.”
The field behind their homes was littered with debris that included pieces of wood, vinyl siding, bicycles and lawn mowers. Vachon said his neighbour’s body was found in the field, dozens of metres from where he was last seen. In the middle of the field, a pot of red flowers sat on a torn piece of plywood, with a note attached from the neighbours that began: “Hey Jacques, thank you for everything. Rest in peace.”
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Quebec Premier François Legault travelled to the neighbourhood Tuesday afternoon, where he met with residents including Lefebvre’s wife. Standing outside their heavily damaged home, she cried as she described the loss of her husband of 39 years. Flanked by her two grown children, she said she and Lefebvre had been planning their retirement.
“He was my other half,” she told the premier.
At a news conference moments earlier, Legault described the scene as “like something from a horror film.” He said most of the cost of damage would likely be covered by insurance, but the province was willing to step in with extra compensation if needed.
Environment Canada says a thunderstorm cell at around 3:45 p.m. generated the tornado. Meteorologists who surveyed the damage Monday evening say their preliminary findings suggest the tornado’s maximum wind speeds measured between 180 and 200 km/h, consistent with an EF2 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. The scale rates wind damage between zero and five, with five being the strongest.
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The mother of home owner Laurence Barbe recovers a damaged picture frame as the house sits in the backyard after being ripped from its moorings after a tornado struck in Mascouche north of Montreal on Monday, June 21, 2021. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
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The home of Mathieu Hamel and Laurence Barbe sits in the backyard after being ripped from its moorings after a tornado struck in Mascouche north of Montreal on Monday, June 21, 2021. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
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Quebec premier François Legault visits the widow of Jacques Lefebvre, who died in during a tornado, in Mascouche north of Montreal on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
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Flowers pay tribute at the location of where the remains of Jacques Lefebvre were found in Mascouche after a tornado touched down in the neighbourhood the day before. Photo by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal Gazette
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Michel Vachon clears debris from his deck in the aftermath of a tornado that touched down on the previous day and claimed the life of his neighbour, in Mascouche on June 22, 2021. Photo by CHRISTINNE MUSCHI /REUTERS
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Quebec premier François Legault, right, visits with the Hamel and Barbe family as their home is demolished after a tornado struck in Mascouche north of Montreal on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
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The home of Mathieu Hamel and Laurence Barbe, left, sits in the backyard after being ripped from its moorings after a tornado struck in Mascouche north of Montreal on Monday, June 21, 2021. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
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A damaged home after a tornado struck in Mascouche north of Montreal on Monday, June 21, 2021. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
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Police investigate the scene where a man was discovered after a tornado struck in Mascouche north of Montreal on Monday, June 21, 2021. Neighbours said the tornado came so quickly, he tried to take shelter in a shed. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
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Police investigate the scene where a man was discovered after a tornado struck in Mascouche north of Montreal on Monday, June 21, 2021. Neighbours said the tornado came so quickly, he tried to take shelter in a shed. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
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Roofing crews repair damaged shingles after a tornado struck in Mascouche north of Montreal on Monday, June 21, 2021. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
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A mature tree sits toppled after a tornado struck in Mascouche north of Montreal on Monday, June 21, 2021. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
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A family assesses the damage, mostly broken trees, windows and a trampoline, after a tornado struck in Mascouche north of Montreal on Monday, June 21, 2021. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
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A car is partially crushed after being pushed several feet by a large uprooted tree after a tornado struck in Mascouche north of Montreal on Monday, June 21, 2021. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
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Tree crews fell a damaged tree after a tornado struck in Mascouche north of Montreal on Monday, June 21, 2021. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
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Neighbours comfort each other after a tornado struck in Mascouche north of Montreal on Monday, June 21, 2021. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
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Laurence Barbe asses the damage as her home sits in the backyard after being ripped from its moorings after a tornado struck in Mascouche north of Montreal on Monday, June 21, 2021. Barbe said her family was spared by only a matter of minutes as her children would have been home and in the house. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
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Workers cut down a damaged tree after a tornado touched down in Mascouche on Monday, June 21, 2021. Photo by Ryan Remiorz /The Canadian Press
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People walk past debris after a tornado touched down in Mascouche on Monday, June 21, 2021. Photo by Ryan Remiorz /The Canadian Press
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A man pauses as he repairs damage to his building after a tornado touched down in Mascouche on Monday, June 21, 2021. Photo by Ryan Remiorz /The Canadian Press
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Debris is seen in a field in the aftermath of a tornado that touched down on the previous day in Mascouche on June 22, 2021. Photo by CHRISTINNE MUSCHI /REUTERS
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Homes are seen damaged by a tornado that touched down on the previous day in Mascouche June 22, 2021. Photo by CHRISTINNE MUSCHI /REUTERS
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The widow of Jacques Lefebvre is comforted by her family as they watch Quebec premier François Legault arrives to visit, after a tornado struck in Mascouche north of Montreal on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
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Debris of homes and broken tree limbs are scattered in the fields in Mascouche after a tornado touched down in the neighbourhood the night before. Photo by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal Gazette
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Hydro crews pull down damaged lines in the aftermath of a tornado that touched down on the previous day in Mascouche on June 22, 2021. Photo by CHRISTINNE MUSCHI /REUTERS
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A work crew contracted by Hydro Québec prepares to install new poles after a tornado struck and downed several hydro poles in Mascouche north of Montreal on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
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Michel Vachon surveys the damage around him in the aftermath of a tornado that touched down on the previous day and claimed the life of his neighbour, in Mascouche June 22, 2021. Photo by CHRISTINNE MUSCHI /REUTERS
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Residents interviewed Tuesday described a sudden, roaring wind and a fast-moving funnel cloud that picked up anything loose in its path and threw it blocks away. Sophie Michaud was out in her backyard, taking stock of a topsy-turvy scene that included a trampoline on her shed. She said her partner had been firing up the barbecue when the wind picked up, and he had just enough time to get inside.
“He closed the door and we just saw the barbecue fly in the air, the trampoline flew onto the house,” said Michaud. “It happened in a fraction of a second.”
Despite some roof damage and a tree that smashed through the windshield of her SUV, she’s relieved that she, her partner and her three children are all safe after a scary experience. She says her neighbour, who was hospitalized, wasn’t so lucky.
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Across the street, half a full-sized tree sat in the swimming pool of Johny Pierre’s home, which was missing most of the shingles on the roof. “It was terrible,” Pierre said. “It was like everything was flying.”
Pierre said that while his home and backyard are heavily damaged, it could have been worse. He says his young son goes for a swim every day after school, and could easily have been in the pool had the tornado come just a bit later. “When I learned my wife and my son were safe I said, ‘We can repair the home, we can repair the car,’ ” he said.
Mascouche Mayor Guillaume Tremblay said late Monday the city was caught off guard by the twister, but its emergency response plan was quickly put into action and worked well. A spokesperson for the town said nearly 100 buildings were damaged.
A spokesman for Hydro-Québec said 40 of its crews were on scene and they hoped to restore power later Tuesday or Wednesday. He said some 20 poles had to be replaced, and countless tree branches and mangled power lines needed to be hauled away.
Environment Canada had issued severe thunderstorm watches for many areas of southern and central Quebec on Monday because of high humidity and high temperatures. The agency says damage reports from other parts of the province are being analyzed.
Tornado 'came too fast' for Mascouche resident to find shelter - Montreal Gazette
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