My cousin in Barrie lived in the row of townhouses that were decimated in the storm. My dad, brother and I went the following day to help him recover what could be salvaged. It wasn't alot. What I found amazing were blades of grass being impaled into the cement block firewall between his unit and the one beside. One wall was still intact and contained a stereo system on shelves. The pieces completely covered in pink insulation. I brushed off a Pioneer turntable and receiver, the owner said take them if you want, I don't want anything from here that insurance won't replace. The receiver died some years ago, the turntable still works fine , my son has it now. Later that day, about a dozen Mennonite men arrived in a bus to volunteer , the officials on site turned them away. I have always had a respect for those men for leaving their farms and families and travelling to Barrie which likely was going into a foreign land for them. Ironically, 20 years later , while working as a cartage truck driver, I had a delivery to a farm near Formosa , which was a Mennonite family. I mentioned to the gentleman about that day, he replied he was one of the men who had been there. He recalled how disappointed they were being sent home.
