'Tornadoes over water' seen across Eastern Canada this summer

A number of waterspouts -- also known as tornadoes over water -- can 'certainly sink a boat,' but most are slow-moving enough that they can be avoided, says expert

MONTREAL — Marc-Andre Bourgeois-Gaudet was in his boat off the shores of Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Que., last Friday when he saw several funnel clouds descending from the sky like tornadoes.

As he got closer, the rain started falling harder than anything he’d ever experienced, he said. “It was like having a waterfall fall on my head.”

The Northern Tornadoes Project, based at Western University, has confirmed that a number of waterspouts — also known as tornadoes over water — occurred in recent days in Quebec and Nova Scotia.