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For the Tymec family in Port Hope, it was supposed to be a day of fun swinging from the trees at Ganaraska Treetop Trekking over the May long-weekend — instead, they ended up feeling trapped in “like a mini tornado.”

On May 21, LeeAnne and Jon Tymec, and their 11-year-old daughter Addy, were about “20-25-30 feet up in the trees” when trees started coming down and debris was flying as a devastating storm ripped through southern Ontario.

Yet, while “incredibly frightening,” it’s gratitude the family is overwhelmed with because young employees shuttled them to safety.

“It’s hard to explain in words because it was like a ‘Wizard of Oz’ situation, where in nearly 40 years, I have never experienced a weather change that way,” said LeeAnne.

Like many, they weren’t expecting the destruction that ended up tearing through Ontario communities that day.

“All of a sudden, the wind picked up. You started hearing snapping of these like 60-70-foot-tall trees. We could tell people were yelling at us, but there was literally debris flying — bark and leaves and rain and what have you — it was like a mini tornado.”

Addy and LeeAnne ended up quite a bit ahead in the course when they were being signalled back. With no ladder on the platform, they had to backtrack through obstacles and “zip back.”

It was terrifying — as parents — and for Addy, said LeeAnne, noting the winds were so harsh, she got motion sickness swaying on the platform. Then, the storm made it so they couldn’t “zip” all the way back — they had to go “hand-over-hand” toward the end.

But these young employees — who LeeAnne thinks couldn’t be older than 20 — came to their rescue; hoisting, holding them up, pulling their feet, doing all they could to get them down.

“This sweet girl had a real big, positive impact on our family,” said LeeAnne, while explaining this young person when Addy got stuck — and LeeAnne couldn’t get unclipped — clipped on between them and was preparing to go get her daughter.

While Addy ended up pulling herself — and staff got them unhooked and down after — “it was truly a selfless act.”

“She was calm, she was quick, she was reassuring the whole time. You know, 'I’m going to get her' (she told mom.)”

Because Jon was behind on the course originally, he was shuttled down before. He’s ex-military, and deals with stress well, but likened this to experiences overseas with adrenalin just taking over, said LeeAnne. Because he was stuck — like “my girls are up there” — but staff assured him, handled it all, and got them down just in time, said LeeAnne.

Just as they got to the ground, LeeAnne said her husband grabbed her and shoved her toward shelter as a massive tree snapped feet away.

Staff then shuttled small groups to cars amid a littered path of debris. Later, they got chainsaws and cleared the only exit as fallen trees blocked the road.

“It was absolutely outstanding,” said LeeAnne, of the young employees’ actions and courage.

The family reached out to the company to say thank you — and has picked up a card and gift card for the young employee. But, as a parent, “I would love her parents to know they’ve raised an outstanding child — she went above and beyond.”

“The destruction that we saw everywhere was heartbreaking,” said Addy. “I’m very proud of myself because I’m scared of heights — and incredibly thankful for the worker (who) helped me. She made me feel safe.”

Treetop Trekking has reopened — the company reported no injuries online following the storm.

In other Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority (GRCA) areas, cleanup efforts were ongoing last week. At the start of the wreckage, for safety reasons, the GRCA was forced to close Ganaraska Forest, the forest centre and all conservation areas. The storm caused “significant damage” to trees in the forest and hydro lines in the areas; knocking out power for days and leading to road closures while crews worked at cleanup and assessing damages.

People left motorbikes, vehicles and the like in the forest when the storm hit, said Linda Laliberte, the GRCA’s chief administrative officer.

During the storm, crews were in the forest searching to make sure no one was trapped.

“It caught everybody off guard,” said Laliberte, about the “magnitude of this storm,” and while reflecting on the devastation caused, including lives lost across Ontario.

In the west forest/Durham area, there was a fatality. Durham police confirmed a 30-year-old man died after being struck by a falling tree.

Elsewhere, in Port Hope, a 74-year-old woman also died after being struck by a falling tree, OPP reported.

At end of week, GRCA staff were still working at assessing damages and cleanup in some areas, particularly, in the forest, because it’s a massive 11,000 acres. While many GRCA areas reopened, residents are encouraged to check the GRCA website or Ganaraska Conservation on Facebook where open/closed updates are posted.

Laliberte said over the weekend they were hoping to get some eyes on the forest from the air to get a better understanding of damages. At press deadline, staff were still trying to arrange this and possible volunteer crews to help with cleanup. At press deadline, the forest remained closed.

The worry was there could be tops of trees broken off up in the canopy.

Elsewhere, in some areas, trees were ripped from the ground, or just snapped apart. Debris and downed power lines littered several Northumberland roads, leading to thousands without power at the peak of the wreckage. For some, it took days to get power back.

Certain areas appeared to be hit harder, including some areas in Port Hope, Alnwick/Haldimand, and Hamilton townships.

Emergency, utility and public works crews were out in force in some areas for days, tirelessly working at power restoration, to clear debris and downed lines.

Area municipalities opened up community centres/complexes offering residents in the days after access to showers, water and power.

Crews have also stepped up to help other areas. Lakefront Utilities’ crews spent last week helping out Peterborough and surrounding areas, which suffered “unbelievable” damage. They were helping with new poles, infrastructure replacements, connections, debris removal around lines — all to get power restored.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: In the wake of the devastation caused by the May long-weekend storm, we caught up with area residents and officials to delve into experiences and cleanup efforts.

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