We never thought we could experience a real tornado warning here at Canada’s Wonderland mega-amusement park, a little north of Toronto but that’s exactly what happened just hours ago as we were enjoying a vacation day in sunshine and heat. Within minutes the rain began and the sky grew darker and darker. We took shelter under a giant umbrella in the water park thinking it will quickly pass and we’d resume our wet fun on the slides and in the wave pools.
As the storm grew in intensity, and the kids began crying uncontrollably, the image of the ominous storm clouds from the Ten Commandments, just before the parting of the Red Sea, was not far from what we were actually experiencing. This was becoming quite serious. Moments later the lifeguards began blowing whistles and running, hollering that a tornado was coming and to evacuate immediately.
With the car much too far to reach quickly we grabbed the kids, stroller and bags and ran to the nearest washroom and hunkered down as the claps of thunder were so deafening loud, they must have been immediately overhead. Power flickered the lights off and on repeatedly and the kids continued wailing… except three month old Jeremy, content in my wife’s arms.
Unbelievably, while we were now relatively safe in the change room the Wonderland security guards asked us to leave as they wanted to close the water park for the evening. We argued with several of them that we would not leave the safety of the building we were in to run with young children and a newborn across Wonderland. They insisted we had to go, and quickly, as more tornado storm activity was about to strike. They essentially were telling us to run for our lives – but again, no directions, no plan, no useful information. We asked for emergency transportation out of the park, to no avail. We asked to remain where we were, also to no avail.
Finally, a kind washroom cleaner handed us garbage bags to try to keep dry in the torrential rain. Strange how it was okay for the Wonderland toilets to be cleaned by an employee in the same facility I was ordered to leave immediately for safety reasons.
With rain pelting down sideways, reminiscent of Florida hurricanes we frantically ran to the next covered area. My daughter cried and screamed, “We’re going to die!”
We ran into a diner where scores of people also took shelter. We huddled for another half hour, my mother in law drying our wet towels under the hand dryer in a futile attempt to warm up and dry off. A young boy stood nearby, separated from his father in the pandemonium. Again, we ran closer to the exit, first a tent-covered amphitheatre and then a pizza restaurant, a gift shop that was flooded and finally the front gates. I ran for the car, as a powerful bolt of lightening struck in the distance, pulled the car up to the gate and scooped up my family to get back to our host’s house, and quick.
The confusing, disorganized and illogical commands of the Wonderland security personnel was unbelievable. Either they had no evacuation plan or poor communication systems or both. To order guests, including children and infants out of a sheltered area and into the storm was irresponsible, dangerous and negligent. The Wonderland public address system continued to blare out music rather than emergency instructions.
Life guards yelled to run without any clear direction where we were to run to. Shopkeepers were completely uninformed about the tornado and storm or evacuation plans.
This will long be remembered as one of the most frightening days ever for me and my family.
Knowing a thing or two about general safety concerns and disaster planning it was evident to me that Wonderland did not live up to expectations to safeguard their guests. Not even close! I will certainly be writing a strongly worded letter to the company president.
As of this evening, the Town of Vaughan, Ontario (where Wonderland is located) has declared a state of emergency. More than 200 homes were severely damaged, 60 of which will have to be torn down.
We’re dry, safe and sound at the end of a very long and frightening day.
Here is a video taken a few blocks from where we were.
More incredible home video a few blocks away
Coverage in The Suburban Newspaper, September 16, 2009
Here’s a map view of how close we are (Point A) to where the tornado actually touched down on Burnhaven Road (Point B):
Murray Genis
Aug 21, 2009 @ 07:46:58
OMG! At this moment, my wife Roz and I are extremely glad to hear you are all well, but quite agitated at the dangerous situation and experience you encountered! It is hard to imagine that a park of that magnitude and mostly family oriented, one that has been in business for many years, would have no emergency plans whatsoever, only to order people to evacuate the grounds, as if it’s only interest was to protect itself from any liability, endangering its clients in the process! Again, we are happy you are safe and wish you a safe trip home.
Leila
Aug 21, 2009 @ 09:00:49
Thanks for sharing your experience of a tornado that hit Wonderland in the Town of Vaugham, Ont. and glad you and your family are safe and sound. It is shocking to hear the poor evacuation process and lack of proper direction by security personnel.Glad everything ended well for you and your young family.
Anthony
Aug 21, 2009 @ 10:52:06
You should have called the cops 911 on the security guards. They were basically putting your family in Danger. Also send your story to the star, I think an investigation needs to be done with regards to how they conduct themselves during an emergency.
dorothy lipovenko
Aug 21, 2009 @ 11:48:42
Thank G-d you are all safe. Frightening to read such a harrowing account. Unbelieveable about wonderland.
Amelia
Aug 21, 2009 @ 16:08:05
Hey. You know, someone told me about the tornado that ripped through Canada’s Wonderland (or close to it, anyway) but would you believe that your blog is the ONLY place I could find that gave me helpful information about what actually happened there. It’s weird… you think I’d be able to find a new site with info about it. Thanks for blogging.. Glad you and your family are safe and well! I am shocked, as well, to hear about the way the employees at Canada’s Wonderland handled it…
Geoffrey
Aug 21, 2009 @ 23:02:39
I can tell you this there is a evacuation plan for wonderland. Whatever security is trained to do I don’t know but i know rides staff are trained to send anyone at their rides to the front gate to leave the park so they can head to their own grouping points so that everyone is safe since as long as guests are in the park they can not leave. Just thought i would share that little piece of information so that all sides of this issue are shared.
Brendon
Aug 22, 2009 @ 11:24:43
Work at the park, Splashworks needs to be evacuated even in severe thunderstorms due to the chemical bases in the water and chemical tanks located at each water attraction. If lightning were to strike or something were to happen there could be a huge chemical spill more deadly to you and your family then the tornado warning. Canada’s Wonderland has a more technologically advanced weather predicting system then any news station on top of the mountain, they close rides minutes before systems start to move in. Canada’s Wonderland was aware the tornado was not passing through their park, however splashworks happened to be close to where one touched down, so needed to be evacuated. The lifeguards over reacted and caused chaos to you and your family, however security does need to evacuate splashworks and lock the gate to prevent people from hiding there and not being found later.
Erwin
Aug 22, 2009 @ 14:40:25
We are very happy to hear that you are safe and sound. We look forward to seeing you back safely at home. We are also very concerned about the scene you described in your article. After reading many other stories and viewing photos of the storms in and around Vaughn. we are also concerned about the weather forecasting service.
Paul H Aubé
Aug 24, 2009 @ 22:27:05
Glenn,
Good to hear you and your family are safe; at least it will be an “unforgetable experience” if you permit me the irony.
Indeed, your experience is perplexing for me, since environmentally-related threats require that people in the open or exposed seek shelter to a hopefully sturdy structure or the underground. The same principle holds true for workplace violence: get out and hide.
But alas, it usually takes one disaster for organisations to learn… after the facts.
Regards
mac
Aug 25, 2009 @ 10:36:04
glad all are safe – but the criticsm of the staff is unfair… HOW MANY TORNADOS have happened in the last 20 years people… in the caribbean or tornado alley in the US or Asia..- they have all the warning systems/actions plans you can think of for mother nature’s wrath and still things happen – lessons always learned AFTER the fact…. and sometimes during a panic dumb things are done… – be thankful you, your family and everyone else at Wonderland came out alive … structures etc can and will be rebuilt
do be careful crossing the street… a bus or car may come out at you from nowhere…i was in my back yard the other day when a tree suddenly fell…. !
Emily
Mar 09, 2010 @ 18:52:00
I had taken a fill in the park damaging my elbow and had noone in distance to help me or at all seen, me and my friend ran for our lives across the street to the CIBC and they wanted to ruush me to hospital later on I went. Scary stuff.
Rosanna
Sep 25, 2010 @ 09:42:35
My friend worked at Canada’s Wonderland when she was 16 (this was 1994 or 93). Let me tell you something: They treat the workers like DIRT.
She’d work 12 hour shifts at the Chickenwerx with only half an hour break. They weren’t allowed to eat the “leftovers” because it was ‘park property’.
The working conditions were so AWFUL that one employee even committed suicide.
I don’t know if this has anything to do with the “Evacuation Plan”. But I think it’s interesting that a company that has treated employees like shit would also treat it’s customers the same way in times of emergency.
Jaclyn
Nov 23, 2012 @ 12:10:06
The security guards were doing their jobs – as instructed by their supervisor, no doubt. There was likely a good reason they instructed guests out of the waterpark, and it was certianly only for guest safety. The next time you openly scrutinize a group of trained people like this, at least have the courtesy to contact the institution directly to gain information, instead of embarrasing yourself like this.
G.J. Nashen
Nov 23, 2012 @ 13:13:52
You should follow your own advice and ask questions first.
I had written and spoken with the folks at Canada’s Wonderland as well as at their parent company. I’ve also discussed the situation with the City Manager and Deputy Mayor.
The staff were well-meaning but had no clue how to handle the situation. It was Keystone Cops at best and very negligent on the part of the corporation. The park guests safety was placed in danger and it was only by the luck of Mother Nature that no one was seriously injured at the park.
I’ve been involved in Emergency Preparedness for 30 years and am quite confident that if the park had a Disaster Plan it was very poorly communicated to their staff at that time.