City of Barrie Media Release: Significant progress being made on cleanup at tornado recovery site

City of Barrie crews and emergency personnel have made significant progress cleaning up at the tornado recovery site. City staff will have all public lands (ie. roads, sidewalks, boulevards, parks) in the affected tornado area cleaned up by the end of today. Barrie Police will release the tornado recovery site tomorrow (Monday, July 19) at noon.

The City’s information centre located in the trailer near Saint Gabriel’s School will remain on site. If you need any assistance, call the tornado assistance line at 705-728-8442 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Building staff will be on site 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily.

The Salvation Army will start to scale down the resident resource centre over the next couple of days. The City thanks the Salvation Army for their assistance in coordinating donations and the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board for providing the space at Saint Gabriel’s School to assist in the recovery efforts.

While the City is grateful for the outpouring of support from the community, donations and volunteers are not required at this time. Entrance into the affected tornado area remains restricted to property owners. Several properties have been deemed unsafe and the cleanup of any private property requires the consent of the individual property owner. The Ministry of Labour is on site to ensure safe working conditions. If people want to assist with cleanup they must be outside of the tornado recovery area until the area has been released by Barrie Police.

Donating through the Salvation Army is the best way to help the affected community, while allowing the essential site evaluation and cleanup to occur.

Reminder: A no parking order is in effect for the affected areas overnight so that the streets can be cleaned. A map of the no-parking area is available via barrie.ca/TornadoRecovery. Tow trucks will be brought in to help remove vehicles from the street if they can’t be moved due to damages.

Ongoing public information about the situation and resources are posted on our website at barrie.ca/TornadoRecovery. Please also follow the City’s social media channels for updates.

Additional Resources:

• Tornado assistance line for affected residents: 705-728-8442
• Service Barrie: 705-726-4242 (press zero after hours)
• Email [email protected] if you wish to be added to a list to offer assistance/donations
• Ontario SPCA support for anyone who needs temporary housing or food for their animal:
  310-SPCA (7722)
• Barrie Public Library Painswick branch: offering computers, free wi-fi and laptops that can be borrowed in-branch for anyone that needs internet and computer access
• Red Cross number for residents directly affected: 289-206-8275
• Ontario 211: Community and Social Services: call 2-1-1 or visit communityconnection.ca
• Canadian Mental Health Association Simcoe County: cmhastarttalking.ca
• Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868 or kidshelpphone.ca