On September 21st, six tornadoes struck the Ottawa region. We are all well aware of the devastation that resulted, as well as the power outages that hundreds of thousands of residents and businesses in the area endured. In many cases, hydro was out for several days. The tornadoes will probably be the biggest local story of 2018.
Particularly hard hit were the adjoining neighbourhoods of Arlington Woods and Craig Henry. This part of the city has the highest concentration of Jewish residences. This tornado struck right at the onset of the Shabbat between Yom Kippur and the holy days of Sukkot. Many houses in these areas were seriously damaged, trees were uprooted, cars were damaged, and many residents were forced from their homes. Some people opened their residences to strangers and friends, and shared food with those around them. That same tornado then headed eastward and caused serious damage and loss of property in the Colonnade Road industrial park area, home to several Jewish owned businesses.

This has become a major story for our local Jewish Community. The Ottawa Jewish Historical Society would like to document the events of those few days and preserve the memories for future generations. We are calling on the community to provide us with their personal stories and photos associated with the tornado, and will organize all contributions so that they can be donated to the Ottawa Jewish Archives.

Please spread the word about this project. Photos and documents can be emailed to the attention of John Diener at the society email address ojhsoc@gmail.com