“Navan will never look the same.” Those were the words life-long Navan resident Kathleen Both uttered after what’s being billed as the storm of a lifetime left a path of destruction through Navan, Sarsfield and a wide swath of rural Cumberland.

According to Environment Canada, the wind speed during the May 21 storm exceed-ed 120 km/h, but that was at the airport. By the time the st orm reached Navan the wind speed was far in excess of that, uprooting hundreds of tress, downing dozens of utility poles and damaging numerous roofs – and it all happened in less than five minutes.

Carole and Gerry Lemay stand amid the fallen trees and carnage that was left by the storm that swept through Sarsfield and other parts of Cumberland on Saturday, May 21. FRED SHERWIN PHOTO

Not a single property was left unscathed. Well over a thousand trees were destroyed during the storm. The debris left behind was piled two metres high on both sides of every street in the village.

The same was true five minutes east of Navan in Sarsfield, where Carole and Gerry Lemay took refuge in their Colonial Road basement as the storm raged outside. The noise was so loud, Carole started praying to her late mother and father to protect the house. Her prayers were answered, but they lost five old-growth trees and their deck.

“We lost the trees, but we still have each other,” said Carole, who admitted to being scared for their lives.

The damage in the two villages is mostly limited to the trees. The damage done to the farms is much worse. Hundred-year-old barns like the one that has stood on Wyatt McWilliams’ farm on Perrault Road for over 120 years, have been totally destroyed.

McWilliams not only lost the barn, but several large sheds as well. The roof from one of the sheds was left lying in a field 100 metres away, fully intact as if it had been laid down like a feather.

“This is a lot worse than the ice storm,” McWilliams said during a tour of the destruction, referring to the storm in 1998 which caused people in some areas to lose power for nearly two weeks and resulted in hundreds of damaged trees.

A number of homes in Cumberland were still without power as late as last week as crews worked around the clock to replace broken utility poles and collapsed hydro towers.

Not far from Wyatt’s farm, his cousin John McWilliams also suffered severe damage to his barns as well as the family home on the Trim Road farm.

The barn at the Gordon McFadden’s farm, also on Trim Road, was also severely dam-aged and the aluminum silo was left with a massive dent 100 feet off the ground hat looks as if it was hit by a five-ton truck.

Unfortunately, the McFaddens lost nine animals when the barn collapsed. Otherwise, no one was hurt, which could be one of the most remarkable aspects of the storm. No one in Cumberland was injured.

The other big story is how the community rallied together. Within hours of the storm hitting, neighbours were already helping neighbours. And the support extended well beyond Cumberland as residents in Orléans and elsewhere rallied to the cause, leaving local city councillor Catherine Kitts searching for the appropriate words.

“The outpouring of support has been over-whelming,” said Kitts who is especially proud of her constituents and neighbours. “We got knocked down, but we got up again. I’m so proud to call this resilient community home.”