Possible tornado rips through Harrington Que., in the Laurentians

Possible tornado rips through Harrington Que., in the Laurentians

Storm damage in the municipality includes uprooted trees and damaged utility poles

Officials are looking to confirm whether a storm that passed through Harrington, Que., —a municipality in the Laurentians—was in fact a tornado.

According to Dominic Martel, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, radar suggests a tornado formed around 5:34 p.m., and ended around 5:44 p.m. on Tuesday.

Martel says the agency is waiting for researchers at the Northern Tornado Project to confirm its suspicions, but added that tornado risk in the region is over.

The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) says it received several calls from residents in Harrington of broken tree branches and infrastructure damaged by the wind.

No injuries have been reported so far, though provincial police told CBC that officers on the ground were conducting wellness checks on Wednesday morning.

Likely tornado tears through Harrington, Que., leaves behind major damage

The municipality of Harrington is about 40 kilometres south of Mont-Tremblant and has a population of just over 900 people.

Martel says the storm's path was tracked from Bell Falls to Lake MacDonald, with the town located right in the middle of the two.

According to Hydro Québec, 431 addresses in the town were still without power early Wednesday morning following the storm, due to damage caused by vegetation downed lines.

Close to 4,000 homes are affected across the Laurentians. Teams are assessing the situation.

With files from Rowan Kennedy and La Presse Canadienne