Derechos Fade but the Scars Still Linger

I will always remember where I was on Saturday, May 21, 2022.

I was in my Honda CR-V with DW, Kid 2, and her cat, Lily, with a U-Haul trailer packed with our kid's possession, bound for her new apartment in Toronto. The weather had been nice as we left Ottawa but clouds started moving in as we headed west, along the four-oh-one.

As we entered the eastern limits of the GTA, we could see that rain clouds were approaching ahead. The closer we got, the darker the clouds became, and by the time that the severe weather warning came to our smartphones, it was too late to do anything.

We were caught in the derecho.

But we were lucky. As powerful as the winds, rain, and hail had battered our vehicle, we made it through the storm unscathed. The same can't be said for other regions in Ontario, the least of all, Ottawa.

Without power, and with many of the streets that could take us out of our neighbourhood of Barrhaven closed, we never learned of the devastation of some parts of the city. Woodroffe Avenue and Merivale Road were blocked off, north of Fallowfield, and we only saw what was covered by social media.

But when we were finally allowed access to Woodroffe, I saw first-hand of the destruction of a beautiful wooded area in the Merivale Gardens-Grenfell Glen area, Pinhey Forest. Countless tall pines had been snapped like twigs, making the forest look like a war zone.

I can't drive or cycle past the intersection of Woodroffe and Slack Road without feeling a pang of sadness. I've walked through the forest many times and have taken countless photos. I've been at the dunes and captured the contrast between the sand and the mix of lush trees.

Over the past month or so, arborists have been in the forest, clearing out the broken trunks and making the area safer for humans and wildlife. They've done their best to leave the trees that were unaffected alone, but what is left behind is a barren field.

Earlier this week, I walked past the forest and captured the bare plot of land. I had never walked this part of the bike and pedestrian path before, and I chose not to cycle it in the past, choosing to ride along the shoulder of Woodroffe instead, because the dense trees used to make the path dark in these sections.

Not anymore. It was heartbreaking.

I'm hopeful that the city and National Capital Commission have plans to replant more trees to fill in the spaces that now sit like deep scars in Pinhey Forest. The sand dunes need protection from wind. I certainly hope that the city doesn't take advantage of the loss of trees to develop the empty spaces.

That would be more destructive than the derecho could have ever hoped for.