Extensive storm system sparks massive cleanup
Posted June 9, 2011 10:20 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO, Ont. – The severe weather that struck much of southern Ontario Wednesday has drawn an even larger response from Hydro One than the notorious 1998 ice storm that left much of the country reeling.
Hydro One officials told 680News they have sent out more repair crews than they did over 13 years ago – 1,300 employees in total, all intended to fix the damage and restore power in the wake of Wednesday’s blast of wild weather.
Extreme weather, ranging from scorching sun to severe winds and thunderstorms left hundreds of hydro poles literally snapped in half. Entire trees were uprooted and many more are missing limbs.
“They had to close some of the roads because hydro poles literally littered the roads as they were knocked down by the wind,” Gauvin said.
Hydro One spokeswoman Daniele Gauvin said their response included 300 Hydro One employees on the ground.
Nearly 100,000 customers living between Tweed and Ottawa, and stretching all the way north to cottage country, were still in the dark as of Thursday afternoon. To restore power to those customers, Gauvin said Hydro One is taking a military-like approach.
“You have to be coordinated so the forestry staff can take the trees off and the line staff can put the wires back up,” Gauvin said. “Helicopters are helpful as well in bringing in poles to wooded areas.”
Restoring power to all these customers could take as long as until Sunday. However, Hydro One said customers in Cottage Country in places such as Huntsville, Orillia and Owen Sound should have their power restored by Friday.
Earlier Wednesday southern communities sizzled as records were shattered from Ottawa to Windsor, and heat and humidity warnings were issued in major urban areas such as Toronto and Hamilton.
Through the afternoon and evening, severe thunderstorms rolled through central, southern and eastern Ontario bringing wind, heavy rain and golf-ball sized hail to some regions.
A team is still investigating the Scarborough Bluffs – one of the hardest hit neighbourhoods in Toronto, where some reported seeing funnel clouds. However, no confirmation of a tornado has been made.
Lightning strikes started fires in at least five homes Wednesday night in Vaughan, north of Toronto, but no one was injured.
Gauvin said about 1,200 of 18,000 customers left without hydro in southwestern Ontario were still in the dark Wednesday night.
“There were 100 broken poles along Highway 21 near Walkerton,” Gauvin said of the extensive damage caused by the storm. “There are hundreds of broken hydro poles around Peterborough, Minden and Tweed.”
Hydro One had been expecting Wednesday’s storm, but Gauvin said the storms were just “much more powerful than anyone anticipated.”
Environment Canada had reports of “significant storms” in the southern part of Haliburton County and the Kawartha Lakes area, said meteorologist Geoff Coulson.
There were reports of tornadoes in Coboconk and Minden Hills, but after sending a survey team to the area, the weather agency has since concluded that all the damage seen was consistent with damaging winds of 120 to 140 kilometres per hour, and not tornadoes. One person was injured in Minden when a tree fell on a house.
Weather was also a possible factor in a float-plane accident on Balsam Lake. Police said the pilot died when the plane flipped-over.
Marc Messier of Ottawa fire said two people were home when a suspected lightning hit sparked a small blaze in their attic.
During much of Wednesday, residents in southern Ontario were feeling the heat. By mid-afternoon, daily records going back to the 1950s were toppled in Toronto, Ottawa and London.
In Windsor, the temperature hit 35.1, topping the record of 34.1 for June 8, set back in 2008.
Toronto’s high was 33.3, breaking the record of 32.2 from 1950. Ottawa and London both reached 33, smashing the records set back in 1959.
With humidex values in the 40s, most of southern Ontario was hot, hazy and humid. Smog and heat advisories were in effect for several areas.
The combination of heat and humidity can cause serious health problems. Anyone venturing outdoors is advised to drink lots of water and avoid strenuous physical activity.
Despite the wilting weather, Environment Canada predicted relief was on the way. As predicted, temperatures began to drop Thursday afternoon, and hit a seasonal nighttime temperature by 9 p.m.
The weather agency said the forecast isn’t showing any violent storm activity for the next little while, but the severe weather season actually got off to a slow start.
“Due to fairly cool and rainy conditions in April and May, we really didn’t all that much in the way of active weather until about a week ago,” said Coulson. “It’s almost as if mother nature is trying to make up for lost time and bring up our average numbers to where they should be by the middle of June.”
Early Wednesday, the agency issued a tornado warning for Hamilton, and Emergency Management Ontario issued a “red alert” for the area. People were advised to immediately move indoors and away from doors and windows.
They said a line of severe thunderstorms moved through the region with wind gusts of up to 90 kilometres per hour. Some damage was reported as the storm travelled from the Kincardine area through the Hamilton and Niagara region.
