The mayor of LaSalle, where houses were torn apart by a tornado Wednesday, wants to know why a warning from Environment Canada was sent out after the twister touched down.

Ken Antaya says he feels lucky that no serious injuries occurred as a result of the storm that uprooted trees, threw RVs and boats across neighbourhoods, and destroyed at least one home.

Antaya says “we have to improve our warning system, because if this would have occurred in a more densely populated area we may have had some problems.

An Environment Canada and Western University damage survey team says preliminary data suggests two tornadoes touched down in the area after surveying the damage and speaking with eyewitnesses on Thursday.

Team Leader Mitch Meredith suggests a F1 tornado hit LaSalle, near Victory Street and Front Road around 7:06 p.m, with peak winds between 135 and 175 km/h. The maximum width of damage was 250 to 300 metres and the length of the track was two kilometres.

Meredith adds soon after, a F2 tornado hit Windsor near E-C Row between Walker Road and Central Avenue with peak winds between 200 and 220 km/h. The maximum width of this tornado was 200 metres and the length of the track was eight kilometres.

Video and photos posted online show what appears to be a grey funnel cloud travelling through a local subdivision in the town of nearly 29,000 on the shores of the Detroit River.

Environment Canada had previously considered the storm a “possible tornado.”

“It was unmistakable as far as I’m concerned . . . that it was a tornado that touched down because of the swath and the manner in which it travelled through the community,” said Antaya.

The mayor was dining with friends around 7 p.m. when he received a call about high winds, flying debris, and a hydro pole on fire in a nearby neighbourhood. He jumped his car, arriving on the scene at the same time as local fire crews.

Environment Canada issued a tornado warning at 7:29 p.m. for Windsor and Essex County, urging area residents to take shelter before lifting the warning at about 8 p.m.

“(The) notification was not effective,” said Antaya in an interview with CTV News.“It came after the tornado actually touched down.”

Essex NDP MP Tracey Ramsey says she is deeply concerned over the fact Environment Canada gave no warning to local residents until 15 minutes after the tornado touched down.

Ramsey says in a statement “Although I am happy that no one was seriously injured, I am concerned for the safety of the people in my region and want to ensure the government does all it can to prepare people for emergencies.”

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens tells CTV News he has heard from many residents about an early warning notification system, but he notes in this case, it would not have worked.

Dilkens did say city staff have been working on a proposal for a storm notification system and it will be presented during 2017 budget deliberations.

Environment Canada is recording these two events as the sixth and seventh tornadoes of 2016 in Ontario.

With files from CTVNews.ca.