A tornado overturned a truck and uprooted several trees in Brossard on Montreal’s South Shore Wednesday night.
Environment Canada meteorologist Michelle Fleury confirmed that a tornado touched down at 8:12 p.m.
Two other tornadoes were confirmed in Saint-Hippolyte, north of Montreal and Cap-Santé, west of Quebec City.
In Saint-Hippolyte, trees were uprooted, infrastructure was damaged and two-centimetre hail fell, according to Environment Canada.
Brossard resident Richard Lee took a video of the tornado.
“I was watching the approach of the very dark clouds coming from the southwest horizon,” he said. “Suddenly, the winds started to pick up, so I looked outside again and saw a column of air spinning behind the trees.”
He says he saw flashes of lights, possibly caused by the explosion of several transformers.
“The lights flickered. I saw some debris blown in the air…I got scared,” Lee said. “The clouds were spinning crazily overhead, and at that moment, we decided quickly to seek shelter in the bathroom, crouching on the floor for around five minutes because it was unsafe to be standing next to the window with the debris flying around.”
Lee says it’s unfortunate that a tornado warning was not issued in Brossard.
“I would have wanted my phone to ring with the tornado warning,” he lamented.
A possible tornado overturned a truck and uprooted several trees in Brossard, on Montreal’s South Shore. (Longueuil police)
Matte Boulevard was closed to traffic between Highway 30 and du Quartier Boulevard.
The heavy rains that swept southern Quebec Wednesday night most notably hit Montreal, the Laurentians, Lanaudière and the Montérégie.
Several thousand Hydro-Quebec customers remain without power Thursday morning, predominantly in the Laurentians and Capitale-Nationale regions.