Homeowners in Dunrobin, devastated by Friday’s tornado, were escorted to their homes today by police to gather a few of their belongings.

It was the first real opportunity for them to see their houses, and for some, to see what is left of them. Ontario Premier Doug Ford traveled to Ottawa Sunday, to the areas affected by those two tornadoes, including Dunrobin.  He has promised to free up disaster relief funds to help people rebuild but for many today, they're just trying to absorb what happened.

In a matter of minutes, Mother Nature destroyed what families in Dunrobin have taken a lifetime to build; house after house is splintered and scattered.

Somewhere among the debris lies Selina Siu and Yee Chung's home. 

“I just want to go home,” says Yee Chung, “check what is left and go from there.  That's all I care to do right now.”

The couple's 18-year-old daughter was inside when the tornado struck. She's now in the hospital.

“She fell on the stairway,” he says, “as she tried to get into the basement.  She has broken ribs.”

Today, Yee Chung gathered with other residents of Dunrobin to get an assessment of the damage and access for just a few minutes to their homes.

“You'll be brought down where you'll meet with the team,” explained Ottawa Police Inspector Robert Bernier to the dozens of residents at today’s meeting, “and you will go down to your house. We are going to do everything we can to meet everyone’s needs today.” 

Ottawa Councillor Eli El-Chantiry helped organize the meeting,

“Unfortunately, I might as well say it, some people will be totally disappointed to go to their property and not be able to stay or occupy them,” he said, “It is devastating, to say the least.  If I said it looks like a war zone, it’s not underestimating it.”

City of Ottawa inspectors did a cursory inspection of the exterior of the homes yesterday; the news they shared today wasn't good.

“We identified 51 homes that have unsafe conditions associated with that,” explained the manager of building inspection with the city of Ottawa.

Jen Ayers says her house was spared, but she can’t shake the images and sounds of that night, “To see it coming from your back yard and to hear the screams and the people coming out and walking through people’s houses that are in the middle of the road,” she says, “It’s just so devastating. We are a great community and we are going to come back.”

In Barrhaven today at Larkin Park, hundreds turned out for a free breakfast as power outages continued throughout this area.  The concern now turns to the commute in Monday morning if traffic lights are still down.

“I'm hoping that power slowly coming back on, it will all be working tomorrow and business as usual,” said Ottawa councilor Jan Harder. 

What has struck many people, in the midst of this disaster, is the fortitude of folk.  As councillor El-Chantiry said, we've survived the ice storm and the floods  and we'll survive this, too.