Deadly windstorm carves a wide path
Thousands left powerless across southern Ontario as wind gusts down trees
Nearly 9,000 Toronto residents were still without power Saturday night, a day after a windstorm tore through southern Ontario.
Wind gusts reached up to 110 kilometres per hour Friday night, leaving as many as 68,000 customers in the city without power at the peak of the storm. Etobicoke had the highest number of outages.
Toronto Hydro spokesperson Christina Basil couldn’t provide an estimate on when everyone would get their power back.
“We’re still getting a high number of wire-down calls and every case is different,” Basil said. “We’re still working around the clock.”
Toronto Hydro is asking residents to report fallen wires and to stay back “the length of a school bus” if they spot one.
“This is a very significant event for Toronto Hydro — we’re in an emergency state right now,” spokesperson Tori Birch said. “The restoration efforts were hampered yesterday, as winds didn’t die out until well into the evening.”
Environment Canada’s wind warning ended at 9 p.m. Friday. The storm caused the most blackouts in the area since April’s ice storm, which affected 44,000 Toronto Hydro customers.
As many as four people may have died as a result of the windstorm.
AHamilton man was killed after attempting to move downed wires from a road, police said.
In Milton, a tree fell on two men working for a tree service company, killing one and sending the other to hospital. The second man died Saturday.
A man was killed at College and Yonge Sts. after he was hit by falling scaffolding, but authorities have not confirmed whether the incident was a result of high winds.
And a pedestrian died when he was struck by car in Etobicoke close to midnight Friday. Streetlights were out in the area of Attwell Dr. and Dixon Rd. at the time, Toronto Hydro said. Damage was widespread across the GTA and southern Ontario, as residents shared pictures on social media of uprooted trees, strewn branches on roadways and downed power lines.
“We live on the 39th floor, so usually we don’t even notice the wind,” said Carol Martin, a resident at Bay St. and Bloor Ave. “But I could feel the building moving as if we were on a ship.”
Staff and workers were scrambling over the weekend to repair the damage at Lawrence Heights Middle School in North York to ensure it opens in time for class Monday. The wind tore off part of the roof during the storm.
The second floor of the build- ing, near Ranee Ave. and Allen Rd., will remain off-limits, with classes being redirected to the first floor and basement, Toronto District School Board spokesperson John Calderone said Saturday afternoon.
The storm was felt as far away as Ottawa. Hydro One reported there were 180,000 customers without power in the province at one point. Workers have been scheduled around the clock to clear streets of debris and damage.