Ottawa residents look back on the anniversary of the derecho

It’s been one year since a devastating windstorm struck the nation’s capital. Residents, like Manon Hendry, are still picking up the pieces.

“It’s been a long year; it’s been hard,” said Hendry.

“The tree went through two bedrooms… it pretty much sliced the second floor in half,” said her husband, Pat Hendry.

A severe thunderstorm swept across Ontario and parts of Quebec on May 21, 2022, bringing winds of up to 190 km/h. The historic event damaged more than 400 hydro poles in Ottawa, knocking out power to more than 180,000 homes.

Several people were left in the dark for days, if not weeks.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada ranked the storm as the sixth most expensive natural disaster in Canadian history, with more than $875 million in insured damage.

In Navan, property and bars were destroyed. To this day, the community is still recovering.

Coun. Catherine Kitts says the area did not qualify for the province's disaster relief funding.

“The city did a good job in the aftermath we spent months and months cleaning up debris. I feel resident were disappointed by a lack of acknowledgement from the province with how bad it was,” said Kitts.

Meanwhile, work continues to restore the Hendrys's home back to its former self. With the roof whole again, they hope to be moved in by the end of June.

“This is almost done and we can’t wait to come back to our beautiful house,” said Hendry.

But the effects of the derecho still linger.

“I’m still scared. I still have nightmares about it.”