June 2025
On 31 May 1985, the southern Ontario City of Barrie was forever changed. That was the day that an F-4 tornado tore through the small city, one of around 9 tornados that slammed though the province that day. When all was done, 12 people were dead, more than 600 homes were badly damaged, a third left uninhabitable, a dozen businesses were completely demolished, leaving at least 400 people out of work, the Barrie Raceway at the fairgrounds was heavily damaged and 35 boats disappeared from the Brentwood Marina, despite being attached to cement anchors embedded in Kempenfelt Bay. Even the concrete anchors were gone.
When the tornado struck Barrie, just before 5 p.m., it was almost 2000 feet wide and carried wind speeds of more than 250 miles per hour. Trees were leveled, cars tossed like empty pop cans and seemingly destroying buildings at random. The tornado’s path traveled in a north-east direction, along the then-boundary between Barrie and Innisfil Township, cutting through the Ardagh Bluffs area, past the Barrie Fairgrounds, through the Allandale area, and out across Kempenfelt Bay.
Today, 40-years later, there are no physical signs remaining of the tornado’s massive destruction. The damaged homes and businesses have been repaired or rebuilt, the debris cleaned up and new trees grow where many were ripped right out of the ground. Only the painful memories of those who survived and the hundreds of images captured by residents and media outlets that day.
In Shear Park, near the corner of Innisfil Street and Baldwin Lane, sits a stone monument, dedicated to the memory of those who died on that long-ago day in May 1985. A large stone, sitting atop a cement pad and surrounded by shrubs and flowers, stands as a silent, peaceful reminder of the day that was anything but silent and peaceful.
Sources: COLUMN: Driving into post-tornado Barrie was ‘a shock and sobering’ – Barrie News, Barrie – Wikipedia, 40 years later, memories of deadly Barrie tornado still vivid for survivors.
