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By CHRIS HOLLAND , The morning was so quiet it mad uneasy. Only hours before, the 0651110313531 of oxtordCentre and New Durham had b S hammered by nathre’s worst fury, 5nd een an unehsir peace seemed to fill the Il/ul',' citizens began to Iealize the extent of}? devastation. e 7 Pm. and virtually wiped out some hamlets in its path as it cut through an area stretching from miekson, through the southwestern portion of Woodstock, pass- ing to the east of Norwich, on through Vanéssa and toward Simcoe. . Black funnel of death A black funnel of death cut a wide swath of destruction through Brant, Oxford and H_aldimanlifk'oifiri last night. It may be days before the total extent of the damage is knoivn, but the grim tally will be high; at least three lives, injuries in the .hun- dreds, property losses in the millions. The night befortthere.h.ad only been time roadside indwthpem for action, as l: esidents of these hurled to the groum predominantly fali‘mmg comnfunities took lines, and hoped steps to PTOte?t gad- 0119?, livestock and ' although after the property. But. md'e first light of day, the Seemed impossible night's fury stxlle $999918 began to retarrrto power. the wreckage of 1rhomes and farms. An atteet/gieiltse,xt5tftn,tre by-thé Je/d'tgtspiteei, Eiage iiGef, r',1tf,s,2t-ttrcBiad had been a torriaiio-dl'ruli1 do A rare occurrence in On- tario, the tornado - or tor-' nadoes -.. struck shortly after; complehv” Brian Workman, a- W s's'2;iiiesssr/yt,'. fire debar m turning cars back 1lft,t, mere since 3 am had Aftermath of destruction Hornet, churches, schools, view of Oxford Centre most severely damaged village, in the storm. Left is the fommunity hall, to the right the Oxford Centre f? to Widespread blackouts oc- curred as nine major cir- cuits in Ontario Hydro's main transmission line from Hamilton area to London were knocked out. Power was restored in Tillsonburg after about 42 minutes, but remained out this morning in Along with last night's tor- nado, heavy rainstorms were reported in several areas. air. industries and farm buildings were ripped apart by the storm's fury; vehicles were tossed about like toys. Tornadoes are usually formed in association with thunderstorms that are in the vicinity of either a squall Me or front which invades a region where a layer of warm, dry air overlies moist -- The road was open, but the trip was dicey as one drove apprehensively toward the village, dodging power lines and fallen trees. In many instances, there was a only a bare margin to pass through, between the roadside and the trees which had been hurled to the ground. One drove over power lines, and hoped they were not alive, although after the damage last night it Seemed impossible there could be electric power. ' mess," and he advised this reporter to en.ter the village along East Oxford Concession Five. Emergency crews - am- balance, utilities, police - were rushed to the hardest- hit areas to assist in rescue and repair efforts. Their et.. forts were also hampered by the loss of phones, making a virtual door-to-door effort necessary to search for possible injured persons. - Telephone lines were also cut, making it difficult to ob- tain information on the full extent of the storm. Roads were blocked in some areas by fallen wires, trees, over- turned vehicles and wreckage from buildings. - Worst concentration of damage occurred in the Southwestern part of Woodstock, around the Highway 401-59 area. badly-damaged areas. Herds of dairy cattle milled aimlessly around piles of wood and lumber which had formerly been barns. Farmers found it necessary to shoot several cattle which had been injured, during the night. not trapped in the barns. Reports indicate some 400 homes destroyed or severely damaged. About 130 persons were taken to Woodstock General Hospital, and 30 ad- mitted, three in serious con- dition. T Environment Minister and Oxford MPP, Dr. Harry Par- rott flew over the area of, destruction with Attorney General Roy McMurtry this morning to ascertain if pro- vincial assistance would be required. He was to issue a statement this afternoon. Norwich Township Council held an emergency meeting this morning to discuss the situation. Sgt. Bernie Crane, head of the Tillsonburg OPP detach- ment said the storm touched only the northeast corner of their patrol area. Five or six wreckage of homes and Provincial constables from Tillsonburg were call- ed in to assist OPP officers from Woodstock and Brant- ford, detachments. Constable Bill Smith, who was patroll- ing the New Durham area said, "I never saw such a mess in all my life." He said some houses with roofs blown off had furnishings sucked out of them and scat- tered over the streets. One corn field he passed looked A Harley area Woman is reported to have died in the wr_eckage of her home. William Snyder, 51, of RR 3, Norwich was killed when the tornado caught his van and threw it off, the Beaconsfield Road in the 8th concession of East Oxford. houses were damaged but no injuries resulted. Variety. cars marked the entrance to the village, and the damage seemed to begin almost as one passed this boundary. Houses which had been surrounded by pleasant shade trees were now buried in piles of dirt and shat- tered tree trunks. Despite the severe damage viewed while walking through the village, the worst was yet to come, for it was just east of the village that the tornado spent its force. _ Philip Burtis, whose farm was severely damaged, pointed out a hydro transformer which had been buried three feet in the earth of his lawn by the wind. He said he and his wife had spent the time during the storm in the basement, "That's what saved us. I guess," he said. He said he had‘lost cattle during the 'n'is'9't4 but didn't know how many, as he was still" trying to get calves out of the ruined barn. Norwich Village was able to escape widespread damage, although Fire Chief 1 Les Snow reported that one house was _ struck by lightning at 6 Palmer St. No damage estimate was available. August 8, 1979 THE NORWICH GAZETTE -T, l.r ESQ/.31 The scene was similiar at the jUnction of Highways 401 and 59. Overturned tractor trailer rigs lie on the median of Highway 401 which was closed for two hours last night, and trees along the highway are festooned with litter and twisted metal The clean-up and repairs will be mammoth tasks, but home-owners were already at work cleaning up debris. The sounds of hammers and saws lent a cheerful note to the dismal scene, as one group of neighbors gathered on the sidewalk in front of their wrecked houses and passed coffee around. On a new street behind St. Patrick's School, recently- built, once-handsome homes are now nothing but hollow- ed out wrecks, tattered cur- tains hanging limply through their windows. The people who live on this street were already out at dawn this morning surveying the damage and talking quietly with neighbors. _ Despite the police and road barriers, people wandered the subdivision’s streets staring with disbelief at roofless, blown-out houses, toppled hydro poles and trees snapped in two like matchsticks. Piles of debris and shattered windows lie around Southdale Public School and St. Patrick's School, both of which are missing parts of their roofs. Police are stationed at ac- cess routes into the Southside Park area subdivi- sion, preventing sightseers and unauthorized persons from entering. "Those people have been through enough," an OPP constable blocking access along Parkinson Road said. Woodstock was especially hard hit, with subdivisions in the south and west ends totally devastated. Oxford Centre and Vanessa were almost wiped out by the storm. as though it had been harvested. Burford Township has been declared a disaster area, with uncounted millions of dollars in damage caused. . (Continued on Page 4) Section I Page 3