By Deborah Creatura for the Sarnia Observer
(2003) On July 11, 1879, a tornado ripped through Sarnia and the surrounding areas leaving a trail of chaos in its wake. The skies were filled with ominous purple-black skies around 10:00 am and a massive lightning shower was the only relief from the impending darkness. By 11:00 am the tornado hit Sarnia, ripping roofs and chimneys from their buildings and smashing window panes. In the July 18, 1879 edition of The Observer the headline “The Terrible Tornado” was the lead story in the then-weekly newspaper.
“It raged with great violence for half an hour, wrecking buildings, levelling fences, uprooting and destroying shade trees, and creating havoc generally.”
In Sarnia one woman, Mrs. Terry, was killed by a tree while picking berries on the reserve. The most damage done by the tornado was to the vicinity of The Observer offices of the day which were located along Front Street, north of Cromwell.
“The scene when at its highest was appalling, and the wind roared and beat against the buildings with booming noise like the distant sound of artillery.”
The entire roof of Robert and James Mackenzie’s furniture warehouse on the west side of the street had been sucked up by the fierce winds and slammed against Charles Mackenzie’s hardware store on the east side. The tornado also caused substantial damage across Lambton County which was documented in The Observer. There was an estimated $10,000 worth of damage done to property in Petrolia and while little property damage was reported in Wyoming, a little girl’s shoulder was dislocated and her arm fractured when a tree branch fell on her. Augustine Lapage, a man in Strathroy, was killed by the storm after he was hit by falling timbers.
The storm was described as the worst ever experienced in the community where “many thought every building in town would be levelled before its terrific strength had been spent.”