Hail In Grimsby, Lightning In Toronto And Washouts In Pickering Highlight Destructive 24 Hours Of Wicked Weather
Posted July 23, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
They were shovelling snow in Grimsby, dodging lightning bolts in Oakville, and watching in awe as bridges and roads were washed out in Pickering. Some were even comparing the carnage to hurricanes they’ve endured in the southern United States.
The wild weather hit southern Ontario on Tuesday night and continued in some areas well into Wednesday
Golf ball-sized hail came crashing down in Grimsby, leaving the streets an icy mess that was reminiscent of winter.
“We were in a hurricane down in Florida, and this beat that by a mile,” resident Ernie Bull explains. “It just come down. The winds were really strong.”
Many GTA residents were forced to do some mopping up of their own, after the major deluge hit hard on Tuesday, especially along Steeles Ave., leaving driveways, roads and basements flooded.
And while it was a major inconvenience for many, for two Oakville sisters it was very nearly the shock of their lives. Lightning hit their home on Dalebrook Drive, starting a small fire.
The charge apparently hit a vent on the roof around 10:30pm, travelled down that opening and started a blaze in the second floor bathroom, which firefighters doused quickly.
But it felt like forever to the ladies inside. “The whole house shook and everything was dark and smoke – I could smell the smoke,” resident Nancy Vanwert explains. “It scared the hell out of me.”
But Carol English came even closer. “If I had gone into my room, I would have walked right by it, and it could have hit me,” she shudders.
Heavy rains were the story on Wednesday, with the Pickering area hit especially hard. Up to 30 streets and at least three bridges were washed out, including one on Whitevale Road , where residents said they saw water gushing down so fast there were actually whitecaps on the road.
More rain is in the forecast for Wednesday. For the 7-day forecast, click here .
