The city of Vaughan got a small dose of good news in the wake of Thursday's devastating tornado -- only 44 homes have been deemed unsafe and an unsalvageable, down from an initial estimate of 200.

One school has also been deemed unsafe. Orders have been issued to restrict access to those structures.

"We're asking residents to out and secure their homes as soon as possible," Vaughan's Mayor Linda Jackson told a late Friday afternoon news conference, adding the state of emergency will continue until at least Saturday.

However, she also believes the estimate that 600 homes suffered damage to still be accurate.

Environment Canada said Friday it believes the damage comes from an F2 tornado.

"We've seen one car that was flipped end over end from a stationary position," Arnold Ashton said Friday. "That's not easy to do."

Homes had their entire roofs lifted off. The roofs in the affected area are of a sturdy design, "so it takes a lot of strength in the wind to take them off," he said.

An F2 tornado -- the Fujita scale goes from zero to five, the most powerful -- would generate winds of 180 to 240 kilometres per hour, Ashton said.

"I've lived in Vaughan for 40 years myself and I've never seen any devastation like this," Jackson said. "It's very overwhelming in the fact that there was not one casualty, and not one serious injury."

Jackson also thanked surrounding municipalities for offering to help in the recovery effort. Both Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Toronto Mayor David Miller offered their assistance Friday morning.

"I have spoken to Mayor Jackson and have offered Toronto's assistance to Vaughan should it be required," Miller said in a statement.

McGuinty said Emergency Management Ontario would be assisting in the clean up of damaged neighbourhoods on Friday.

There are four "critical areas" in the City of Vaughan, with police, fire and rescue personnel on site, Jackson said.

• Andrew Park and Martin Grove Road
• Moonstone Place and Houston Drive
• Gamble Street and Islington Avenue
• Melville Avenue and Haymer Drive

Jackson said building inspectors will be out on Saturday in those hard-hit areas to assist homeowners.

The city of Vaughan declared a state of emergency Thursday at around 7 p.m. after the storm tore through the area, leaving more than 7,000 homes and businesses without power.
 
Two centres were established:

• Evacuation cente at Father Fulfon Community Centre, 8141 Martin Grove Rd., Woodbridge
• Emergency shelter, Maple Community Centre, 10190 Keele St., Maple

The city encouraged people to register at one of those centres. The Insurance Bureau of Canada (416-362-9528, ext. 4700) has representatives there.

Those with hydro issues are aslled to call Powerstream at 1-877-777-3810.

People can call Access Vaughan at 905-832-2281. The line will be staffed between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Tornadoes were also reported in Newmarket, Milton and Durham. Environment Canada is still investigating other possible tornado sites.

Death in Durham

Elsewhere, police in Ontario's West Grey municipality confirmed Friday that an 11-year-old boy died when the storm struck Durham, Ont., south of Owen Sound.

He was attending a day camp when the storm hit a conservation area. West Grey Police Chief Rene Berger said emergency crews performed CPR on the boy just before 4 p.m. Thursday, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was not released, at the request of his family.

Six other people suffered minor injuries.

Environment Canada also believes the Durham tornado to be an F2.

The storm system moved west to east across southern Ontario on Thursday, with tornado warnings starting in the late afternoon and continuing on well into the evening.

It also passed over Toronto, where a funnel cloud was reportedly seen near the central intersection of Yonge and Bloor Streets.

Miller said Toronto handled hundreds of calls for problems such as fallen trees or disrupted hydro, but it was spared the level of destruction that was visited upon Vaughan.

With reports from CTV Toronto correspondents