Disaster Recovery Assistance Program activated for Ottawa

The province has activated its Disaster Recovery Assistance Program to provide additional support for those impacted by the recent tornadoes in the Ottawa region.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford toured Ottawa neighbourhoods hardest hit by the storm that snapped power lines and leveled homes on Friday.

Environment Canada has confirmed that the Ottawa area was hit by two tornadoes. The national weather agency says a powerful EF3 category twister with winds that reached 265 kilometers per hour, ripped through the Ottawa neighbourhood of Dunrobin, about 35 kilometers west of the downtown area.

Residents were returning home today to assess the damage there. After the EF3 twister hit the small town it moved on to devastate the densely populated area of Gatineau.