Kathy Chatterton will always remember her birthday of 2025 – marked by a severe storm that took out her, and husband Jim’s, trailer and truck.
The couple, from West Guilford, were at their annual gathering in Lake of Two Rivers in Algonquin Park when the storm hit Saturday night.
Jim said there’d been a rain advisory, but “it was good” until about midnight.
“The trailer started shaking like crazy, and then hail came, and then, all of a sudden, a tree crashed through our roof and basically smashed the ceiling down on top of us.”
Jim said the two managed to crawl out, only to find a devastated site.
There were full trees crashed to the ground, along with fallen limbs. They knew their 35-foot trailer had been hit, but it wasn’t until Jim went to the truck to get a flashlight that he noticed the full damage to the trailer, as well as their vehicle.
“A tree had also hit the front of the trailer and knocked the awning off, smashed the front of the trailer in, all the fiberglass was broken and the truck bed was just flattened.
“The tree had hit the truck bed first, then the trailer. Thank God for that or we’d be pancakes. That truck saved our butts.”
Kathy said it all happened very quickly.
“We heard the wind, the trailer started shaking, the hail came, it wasn’t even a minute.” Jim said he’d heard people describe weather like that sounding like a locomotive. “It couldn’t have been better of a description. It was the wind above the trees; it was just unreal. The sound was the scariest thing. It was out of this world.”
Jim added the entire ordeal was “super scary, incredibly scary. It’s a huge trailer, 35-feet long, and that trailer was just shaking like crazy from side to side.”
After they got out of their trailer and did a preliminary assessment of the damage, Jim went to check on their friends, who had joined them for the weekend.
“Everybody was good, but the rain was unbelievable. The water was up past my ankles just walking on the main road.”
Kathy said she did not know if Environment Canada had classified it a tornado, but Jim is convinced it was one. “And, we were lucky, really lucky.”
A tow truck came to pick up the Chattertons and the damaged truck and trailer and they are safe at home, beginning insurance claims.
“It was so destructive,” Jim said.
“Happy birthday to me,” Kathy added
Storm reports
On June 21, from about 9:45 p.m., reports of dangerous conditions were received from several areas.
The Ontario Provincial Police reported that two people camping in the northeastern part of Algonquin Park were impacted by Saturday night’s storm when a tree fell, resulting in serious injuries to one person.
The injured camper was transported out of the park by a Ministry of Natural Resources float plane and taken to hospital for treatment, OPP said on Sunday.
Hwy. 17 was closed between Bonfield and Mattawa due to hazardous road conditions caused by the severe weather and downed trees. The Mike Rodden Arena in Mattawa was used as a shelter for anyone in need of a safe place to stay.
