'Just like a train!': Thedford-area hit hard by storms

Multiple rural residents west of Thedford, Ont. are in clean-up mode Thursday after Wednesday’s violent storms left widespread damage.

Bradley Rombouts lives on Jericho Road, and along with his dad Pete, he was inside his large chicken barn when the storm hit.

“I said ‘Dad, we’d better go!’ And it came in really fast,” he said.

Pete said there was little time to react, and told CTV News, “We heard a bunch crashing. We thought it was hail, and it was stuff flying.”

As it turned out, a lot of stuff was flying through the air. A covered shed holding cows, sheep, hay, and equipment collapsed, but thankfully, livestock was still in the fields.

Multiple rural residents west of Thedford, Ont. are in clean-up mode after violent storms left widespread damage to property on July 20, 2022. (Sean Irvine/CTV News London)

The violent storm followed a path that just missed the family home, leaving Pete to draw a conclusion.

“I am thinking a little tornado of some sort,” he said.

The power of the wind is seemingly evident a line away, where multiple residents say a large barn under construction was damaged.

Back on Jericho Road there was more damage, this time a tree canopy leading to the property of John Gillard. Most of his mature trees are damaged or destroyed.

“A little less tree line now. Not quite as picturesque,” he said.

Gillard's wife Debbie saw the storm come in.

“We looked out. We could see it coming, it was solid white, it was very noisy just like a train that goes through. And, all of sudden everything was white.”

Multiple rural residents west of Thedford, Ont. are in clean-up mode after violent storms left widespread damage to property on July 20, 2022. (Sean Irvine/CTV News London)

The worst occurred in 1991 when a tornado hit the property.

“We lost the roof off the barns, and we lost a shed, and the windows on the shed blew out,” she said.

A scene similar to what happened back at the Rombouts, where everyone is thankful to be safe and young Bradley still can’t believe what happened.

“I’ve seen this on TV, most of the time,” he told CTV News London while agreeing he had now seen a violent storm with his own eyes.