Two Oklahoma men were killed Thursday and another man is missing after a tornado ripped through a northwestern Ontario fishing resort popular with U.S. tourists.

Debris is shown near a downed tree at the site of a tornado touchdown on Thursday at the Fisherman's Cove Resort (CBC)Environment Canada confirmed Friday afternoon that an F2 tornado, with winds between 181 km/h to 252 km/h, blasted through Fisherman's Cove Resort on the tip of Lac Seul, about 200 kilometres northeast of Kenora. It hit just after 8:30 p.m., according to Ontario Provincial Police.

The Ontario Storm Prediction Centre had sent out an investigator to assess the damage.

Officers from the communities of Red Lake and Ear Falls were called to the popular resort, where several buildings had also been damaged.

The bodies of Stan Hollis, left, and Bernie Jackson, centre, have been recovered, while Dennis Kinkaid, right, is missing. (Tulsa World Newspaper)Several cabins were lifted off the ground during the storm, including one that was actually tossed into Lac Seul, police said.

Stan Hollis and Bernie Jackson, both of Ponca City, Okla., were staying at that cabin and were killed. Their bodies were found in the water several metres offshore, police said.

Emergency officials were searching by air, ground and water for the third man in the cabin, identified as Dennis Kinkaid, also of Ponca City.

Debris on highway

Environment Canada believes a tornado touched down at a resort on Lac Seul in northwestern Ontario, killing two people. (CBC)

Environment Canada said it issued warnings hours before the tornado hit, but those who witnessed it firsthand said they didn't expect a funnel cloud, a rarity in the region.

Kyle Kurchheidt of Wisconsin was in another cabin that was hit by the tornado, but somehow he escaped with minor injuries.

"I tried to hold on and closed my eyes and hoped I didn't get hit by something," he said.

Cody Kahoot said he was driving to Ear Falls from Dryden when he saw a large amount of debris on the highway. He said he turned into the camp to see what was happening.

"One end of the camp got hit. There's three cabins and two of them were pretty much in the lake. It just looked like a little path went right through," he said.

"There was a fridge sitting in a boat out in the lake and the whole dock had been moved."