North Dumfries mayor praises community, staff spirit in aftermath of Ayr tornado

“God bless communities, eh? That we have that connection, and that compassion.”

That’s how North Dumfries Mayor, Sue Foxton, summed up her feelings about the public and township staff responses to the EF1 tornado that tore a path across Ayr, around 11:00 Saturday morning.

“But you know what’s amazing is the neighbourhood showed up, and that the people in the town showed up, and everybody wanted to help,” she added. “And the staff were on their own time, went out to help.”

Foxton told 570 NewsRadio the tornado that swept through both the Home Hardware store on the north side of town, and the FS Partners plant across the street from it, are both closed due to damage.

She said the Home Hardware is not condemned, but cannot be used until the building is rehabilitated. Large portions of the roof of that store were torn off in the storm.

Cowan Park, behind the FS plant, had steel fly through the air and wrap around the apparatus at the splash pad, which could take up to a month to repair, the mayor said.

Foxton also noted that 300 trees came down in the tornado, and Greenfield Road was hit quite badly.

She said offers of help have come in from other municipalities, from the province, and from the federal government, but said it mostly comes down now to picking up debris and making repairs.

No one was hurt in the tornado.

The township plans to update the closure of the dog park, volleyball court, and community garden at Cowan Park and the Community Complex on Tuesday.

Researchers at Northern Tornadoes Project are still investigating the intensity and path of the twister.