Ottawa continues cleanup after damaging windstorm

Ontario’s largest power utility said it was making progress restoring power to tens of thousands of people left without electricity across southern, central and Eastern Ontario following a windstorm that downed trees and power lines and left three workmen dead.

Most areas of Ottawa that lost power were back online by late Saturday. In rural areas, crews were replacing power lines downed by trees uprooted or snapped by winds.

In Perth, several poles were snapped along a main power line on Highway 7. Power in parts of Lanark Highlands was not restored until Saturday afternoon, then was lost again until late evening.

Environment Canada said wind gusted at close to 120 km/h in the wake of Friday’s cold front that sped across Ontario and Quebec.

Hydro One said that by the end of Saturday more than 98,000 customers remained in the dark, down from a peak of about 200,000, while Toronto Hydro crews were working to reconnect several thousand customers, down from 68,000 at the height of the storm.

“We’re in a significant emergency state and are dealing with the aftereffects of a major windstorm,” Toronto Hydro tweeted on Saturday. “Damage is severe and some outages will be lengthy.”

In Quebec, about 27,000 people remained in the dark Sunday morning after the storm gusted through at speeds reaching 100 km/ h. That was down from a peak of well over 200,000 on Saturday.

Most of the damage came on Friday, when police west of Toronto said two people died as a result of the winds. In Hamilton, police said a man who had been trying to clear downed power lines was found “in contact with live wires” and died soon after.

The week ahead is shaping up to be typical May weather: Monday’s high will be a slightly cool 14, but temperatures will rise into the lower 20s on Tuesday and remain there through Thursday when rain is in the forecast.