Remember the past; prepare for the future.
Thirty-four years ago Friday, a devastating F4 tornado ripped through Barrie, killing eight people and injuring 160 others.
The twister carried winds of more than 400 kilometres per hour and cut a path of destruction up to 600 metres in width and five kilometres long.
The community rallied to put residents’ lives back together and the healing continues to this day, according to Judith Banville, who will be presenting her 2015 documentary DVD The Barrie Tornado Remembered at Grace United Church on Friday evening during an event called The Barrie Tornado: Reflections and Recovery.
Crystal Poechman-Colville lost a younger brother to the storm that fateful day so many years ago and says she hopes Barrie residents appreciate how the community - and emergency responders - worked together.
The day of destruction, when she was just 12 years old, is still clear in her mind.
“I remember sitting in our kitchen with my father and my girlfriend seeing black in the air out the back window. I asked my dad, ‘What is that? Is that birds or something?’,” she said while sitting in Shear Park near a stone memorial recognizing the May 31, 1985 event.
“My dad still doesn’t know how he knew, but when he turned back towards us, the rain was horizontal and he told us ‘It’s a tornado. Get downstairs’,” Poechman-Colville said.
“You could hear the freight train (sound) that everybody talks about and you could feel the air pressure on the house," she added. "My father believed the house would be gone, but luckily our home was saved.”
But houses in her neighbourhood were not spared the same fate.
“When we got up to the main level of the house, we were able to see across the road the total devastation,” she said. “I remember a house on Trillium (Crescent) that was still standing, but the second storey wasn’t there.
“There was only a wall with a closet with clothing in it. You could hear people screaming and the sirens. The noise was unbelievable that day,” Poechman-Colville said.
But the family tragedy that day was yet to unfold.
Her nine-year-old brother, Jonathon, had been fishing that Friday afternoon.
“My mom and dad’s priority was to find him,” she said, adding her mother and sister happened to be going shopping, but were forced to stop their car when the tornado hit.
“They were sitting in front of the Holiday Inn and she actually watched it go up the hill,” Poechman-Colville said. “She immediately turned the car around and drove back into the devastation.”
Sadly, Jonathon’s body was later discovered by rescuers.
“He was riding his bike home. Mom always said to come home if it was raining,” she added.
Poechman-Colville said the years have not dulled her memories of that day or of the kindness and dedication shown by neighbours and emergency personnel.
“I couldn’t comprehend what I saw. You see a roof on the road and buildings demolished, but everybody was supporting everybody else,” she said. “I remember everybody working together, getting people out the houses, and everyone helping as much as they could.”
Those scenes probably led her to take up a career in nursing.
“I knew I wanted to give back and that’s why I became a nurse. It is a wonderful career,” she said. “Even if it’s not for the people of the tornado, but just to give back to the community. It’s healed my heart to be able to give.”
Banville hopes that healing continues during Friday night's event, and beyond, adding that it will be the first time the documentary has been shown publicly.
She said it brings together survivors, first-responders and weather experts who share their stories and photos and provide information about how to survive a tornado.
People who helped with the video had common goals, Banville added.
“They were looking for closure and they are looking for other people to understand what it was like to survive a tornado. They want to express their grief and their gratitude to the community that did much for them,” she said.
The Barrie Tornado Remembered screening takes place at Grace United Church on Friday beginning at 6 p.m.
Stories will be shared and lives lost will be remembered, Banville said. If you have an interesting story, she can be reached on Facebook through the Show & Tell Simcoe County page.
For tickets to Friday's event, click here.
