Goderich update: Royal Canadian Navy helps with tornado relief work

Anne has graced us with another Goderich report, this time with news of the visit from HMCS Summerside and Shawinigan whose crews have come to help with the tornado relief work. Included are some photos Anne took of buildings still in need of demolition or repair so you can see that there is a lot of work yet to be done, of the ships, and of family members posing with crew members -- thanks guys.

And as always, thank you Anne.

There was excitement in the air today, despite water spout warnings off the Lake Huron shore that persisted throughout the day till late afternoon. Water spouts that traverse to land evolve into tornados but it would not dampen our resolve to spend the morning at the harbor. HMCS Shawinigan and HMCS Summerside sailed into port in Goderich at 8 am this morning under 3 meter swells. Their arrival stirred an excitement in town that has been missing for some weeks. They were well received.

Brother Jim, who has been here for a week on vacation, and I left at 10 am for Goderich. Our aim, to tour town and to pick up Mom and Dad and see the ships. The HMCS crew announced on local radio this morning that they planned on cleaning the War Memorial on the town square, cleaning veterans graves in the Maitland Cemetery that was badly damaged in the August 21st tornado and volunteer for general cleanup in Courthouse Square.

When we arrived in town we parked on East Street and walked to the square. I have attached pictures of areas of East Street that still require a great deal of clean up. Wrecked cars and debris still litter many areas of East Street, one of the worst hit areas. The flattened gazebo on Courthouse square has been removed and almost all of the tree trunks and stumps are gone. Hopefully, it will soon be time to begin planting the BIG trees.

There are a few stores open on the square, you can tell when an new store is open as large blue and white ribbons and bows are are attached to the store front to signify “come on in”. Not all stores have their signs replaced yet so the ribbons announce to all that it is business as usual. There were many trucks on the square today as some of the badly damaged stores and restaurants were being emptied of their merchandise and furnishings today. Another sign that things are moving forward one small step at a time.

Arriving on the square, we saw that the HMCS crew’s were hard at work. The War Memorial was cleaned and the crew’s were raking the court house grass that they report was still full of glass shards and small bits of debris. We left East Street headed for the newly reopened TD Bank on the corner of Victoria Street and St. David Street. As promised, the TD bank reopened Sept 12th and, as promised, it was still quite a mess but no was was complaining. We ran into a road block at the bank and were forced up St. David Street. There are many houses on St David Street that are awaiting demolition and I have attached a picture of one of them. As you can see, there is still a lot of work to be done before these homeowners can return to their normal lives and fall is quickly approaching.

We picked up Mom and Dad and headed for the harbor. The ships to our surprise were berthed side by each, like two sausages. They were taking on stores and fuel so that may have accounted for the strange berthing. There were crew at dock side who were friendly and talkative. We had a wonderful chat with two crew and one sailor went over to talk to Dad in the car. It was very cold today, 9 degrees, and very windy so Dad was confined to the car. The young sailor sat in the drivers seat of my car and he and Dad talked for the longest time. I thought that was very kind of him. The Navy was Dad’s force and he was delighted with the visit.

The repair work on the salt mine and the grain elevators is progressing, albeit slowly, as the damage was extensive but it has not prevented shipping. Several ships have been into port to take on salt, soya beans and wheat over the past three weeks. After our visit to the harbor we had a take out lunch together and Jim and I headed home.

Ship Facts: HMCS Shawinigan and HMCS Summerside

Class: Kingston (maritime coastal defense vessel)
Length: 55.3 m
Beam: 11.3M
Weapons: BOFORS 40 mm Rapid Fire Gun and M2 .50 Calibre Heavy Machine Gun
Displacement: 970 tonnes (full load)
Complement: Minimum crew of 31-47 (mission dependent)
Range: 5,000 nautical miles at 8 knots
Speed: 15+ knots
Operations: Mine countermeasures, counter-terrorism, anti-smuggling ops., resource protection, disaster relief

You can click on the photos to enlarge them.