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Tornado touches down in Ottawa's south end

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A tornado touched down in Ottawa's south end Thursday evening, damaging homes, properties and trees in Riverside South and Findlay Creek.

Environment Canada confirms a tornado touched down 9 km northwest of Metcalfe as severe weather moved through the national capital region.

Storm chaser Connor Mockett posted video on social media of what he said was a tornado on Albion Road near Rideau Road at 6:47 p.m.

Reports of damage in the south end stretched from Bank Street to River Road near Earl Armstrong Road. Photos on social media showed damage to homes, downed trees and a trailer flipped over at a construction site.  Albion Road was temporarily closed due to downed wires and tree branches just after 7 p.m.

Coun. Steve Desroches, the councillor for the area, said he's been told eight homes were affected by the storm.  Roof damage was reported on Escapade Private, Salamander Way, Findlay Creek Drive and Labrador Crescent.

On Kelly Farm Drive Thursday evening, roof shingles, street signs, a porta potty and other debris littered the street.

"Crews assisting with tarping roofs and doing wellness checks in the area," Desroches said.

Debris landed in a backyard swimming pool after a severe storm moved through the Findlay Creek area of Ottawa's south end Thursday evening. (Peter Szperling/CTV News Ottawa)

Ottawa fire says the roof was partially ripped off a home on Canyon Walk Drive in Riverside South.

"All occupants exited safely except the family dog," Ottawa fire said on X, the social media platform formally known as Twitter.

"Firefighters located the dog & put him safely in a room away from the damage."

A house on Wilhelmina Place in Riverside South was struck by lightning during the storm, charring the siding on the home, according to Ottawa Fire.

Desroches says there are no reports of injuries.

Ottawa police said officers responded to four calls for service related to the severe weather, with calls related to roof damage and reports of downed trees and hydro wires.

Several homes were damaged when severe weather moved through Riverside South Thursday evening. (Peter Szperling/CTV News Ottawa)

Hydro Ottawa reported hydro outages in Stittsville, Richmond and Rideau Jock affecting 5,000 customers, but power was restored by 9 p.m.

Environment Canada issued two tornado warnings for Ottawa between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. A severe thunderstorm warning ended for Ottawa just before 8 p.m.

Residents reported heavy rain and loonie-size hail falling in parts of Stittsville, Barrhaven and Riverside South during the storm.

Giant hail fell in Stittsville as a severe storm moved through the Ottawa area on Thursday. (Kathy/submission)

Three tornadoes have now touched down in Ottawa's south end this summer.

On July 13, two EF1 tornadoes with maximum wind speeds of 155 km/h touched down in Barrhaven, damaging more than 100 homes and properties. Western University's Northern Tornadoes Project said the tornadoes left two paths of damage approximately 1 km and 5 km long.

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