As the cleanup continues after a tornado ripped through the south Ottawa suburb of Barrhaven this week, researchers with Western University’s Northern Tornadoes Project suggest a $200 hurricane strap could have prevented some of the roof damage to homes in the area.

More than 100 homes were damaged in three areas when a tornado touched down in Barrhaven Thursday afternoon. The damage included roofs ripped off the homes or shingles torn off a building and tossed onto the road.

Researchers with the Northern Tornadoes Project are in Ottawa to assess the damage and determine the strength of the tornado that hit this week.

“We look at the quality of the structural connections, as well,” Connell Miller, engineering researcher with the Northern Tornadoes Project, told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s at Work with guest host Graham Richardson.

“You’d be surprised how often we go to these events and find that buildings aren’t up to code, we find that nails are missing from the roof-to-wall connection, we find that things were not properly installed.”

Miller says researchers are pushing the Ontario Government to make changes to the Ontario Building Code to improve the roof-to-wall connections on homes.

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