Equine Niagara News - RCAC Tornado

storm
Tornados make a mess of Royal Canadian Riding Academy
by Shannon McGee

Here is my experience of the tornado from Thursday, August 20th.

I was in the arena lunging my horse at my barn only 2 kilometers from Royal Canadian Riding Academy (RCRA) while the storm was brewing, the rain was so loud that my horse could no longer hear my voice and I decided to call it quits and put him back in his field. Sure enough, I got to his field and stood with him for a minute through some intense lightening strikes nearby. The cracks were deafening and the light made the sky look white! I looked directly to the west of my barn and saw what looked like smoke coming up from the ground. I thought maybe lightening had struck the nearby hay field? As I continued to watch, I noticed that the base of the "smoke" was moving and then it clicked! It was a tornado!

As soon as I saw the clouds whirling from a 45 degree angle, I realized I needed to keep my eye on it. I stood in my field as the wind was suprisingly not bad at all, and I watched it slowly start to disappear upon reaching Green Lane (Harold Rd) & McCowan Rd. I then had the power go out in my barn and made sure all the horses were safe before leaving. We were completely missed! Thank goodness!

I then attempted to drive home turning south down McCowan Road and the rain was so bad that I had to put my 4-ways on and drive what felt like about 10 km an hour or I was hydroplaning. As I drove down McCowan aproaching Davis Drive, there were branches down and I knew it was bad when I saw pine tree branches - it takes a lot to pull them off a tree! I turned west onto Davis Drive and as I began to pass the Royal Canadian Riding Academy, I saw that there was a horse trailer turned over and I pulled to the side of the road. I took a couple pictures and got stuck there as about 6 firetrucks and 4 ambulances came to the scene, along with multiple police cars.

I figured I would get out of the way and decided to go back and check on my horse just in case, I didn't know if it had hit down again? I circled back and sure enough my 17 h horse was safe and sound in his field blocking the wind and rain from his best friend, an 11h Pony.
storm storm
Once everything had sunk in, I realized that my friend is still boarding a horse at the property of RCRA. I then realized I had to stop and lend a hand. I drove back and parked on the road and ran to comfort her. As I ran up the driveway I stopped for a moment to get a picture of the horse trailer that had flipped on its side. A pony had been trapped inside with a woman when it went over but thankfully they made it out okay. I ran up the driveway to assist my friend and came upon a bunch of firemen, one of which was ever so helpful and directed me to my friend as he had just spoken with her. They had everyone on the property gather in Arena 1, their large indoor show ring at the west side of the building, as the power had gone out. I must credit the officials who were on scene for their amazing work in keeping everyone calm and collected. They recommended everyone stay in the arena for 30 minutes and to call families to tell them they were safe. About 15 minutes after I arrived in the arena, the firemen made an announcement asking everyone to gather calmly as there was a threat of another tornado. I remember it clearly as the majority of children there looked between the ages of 11 and 16 years old. Some children were terrified and grasping onto parents, others were very calm and chatting away with friends about how they are still in shock. It seemed the main concern was the horses. Nobody was allowed to leave for a certain amount of time as there was news of live wires down in the parking lot. Once that was fixed, the officials allowed adults or parents to leave with their children should they so choose.

The arena roof from their indoor show warm up ring was lifted in pieces and the door at the end went flying off while my friend was in the arena with a young horse. The wind came out of nowhere they told me, and the door to get back into the barn got jammed, they had to kick at it for what felt like minutes, but was probably only seconds. They secured their horses in the stalls and told me that they had seen a tree flying in the air over top of two cars, the Barn 3 building and saw it land on the hill going into the paddock on the east side of the property. The roof of Barn 3 was peeling off as seen in my picture and the aisles were all flooding. The jumps that were set up outside were all destroyed and thrown around by the wind, trees down all over the property; some crushed vacant horse trailers! Glass was blown out of some windows and fencing was down all along the Davis Drive property line. Even the judges booths were flattened and the outdoor arenas were flooded.
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The horses were shifed around once the storm was announced as finished by the officials. They were either trailered home to their properties or they were moved to new secure and dry stalls.

The devistation that struck through RCRA was a horrible experience for so many people. Everyone was so brave, they handled the horses incredibly and made sure that everyone was safe and secure. The majority of people were left in shock and struggling to keep their thoughts together as they waited for the storm to pass. My main concern was the horses and the children! I want to thank all of the officials who were on site for their assistance and quick reaction to the tornado. This sure was a day that I didn't see coming… Nor did I ever think I would experience a tornado in my life, I don't wish it on anyone.

I want to also make note of EMG's forum community for their generosity in offering paddocks for horses to stay in and hands for cleaning up the mess. I always find that when tragedy strikes, EMG is always there for us.

Shannon McGee
Wild Rose Equestrian

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