More than 150,000 people in southern Ontario — including thousands in the Kawarthas — experienced power outages as a result of the wind storm yesterday (May 4).
Two deaths in Hamilton and in Milton were also reported. A Hamilton man in his 50s was electrocuted after trying to clear downed hydro wires from a roadway. In Milton, a 28-year-old man died and an 18-year-old man experienced life-threatening injuries after a tree fell on them; the two worked for a tree servicing company that was clearing fallen branches from utility wires for Milton Hydro.
As a cold front moved through southern Ontario yesterday, Environment Canada recorded wind gusts up to 120 kilometres per hour. The strong winds caused significant damage including downed trees, damaged roofs, and broken or leaning hydro poles.
Municipal utility companies and Hydro One were kept extremely busy responding to reported power outages. Thousands of people remain without power while crews repair the damage.
Hydro One customers can check the status of outages at the Hydro One Storm Center website at www.hydroone.com/StormCenter3/.
One of the most serious incidents in Peterborough was near the intersection of Lansdowne St. and Monaghan Rd., when a large tree fell on hydro lines, taking out power to around 2,500 customers in Peterborough’s west end and backing up traffic.
Lansdowne and Monaghan #wind #ptbo #blackout pic.twitter.com/uxRW8KJAGj
— Rick Dolishny (@rdolishny) May 5, 2018
Traffic is blocked up on Lansdowne St. after #onstorm storm knocks down tree. #ptbo https://t.co/9E2aBz1umO pic.twitter.com/XhYFGauPcQ
— Ptbo This Week (@PtboThisWeek) May 4, 2018
The high winds caused trees to sway wildly …
The weather here is still crazy in the Southend of Peterborough @ptbo_utilities @kawarthaNOW @weathernetwork pic.twitter.com/hRo5VmA4Zh
— Trudy Lawson Kelly (@bitsofwool) May 5, 2018
resulting in many trees coming down …
Big tree down behind the lift lock Foodland in East City in #Ptbo @ptbo_utilities pic.twitter.com/o0XfyaxjLy
— Cole (@MrLeptick) May 4, 2018
. Holy moly wind knocking trees right over! #stormon #Ptbo pic.twitter.com/TvgewhB34q
— christina dicosmo (@christina_dc) May 5, 2018
I have to admit that I've never seen that before… right after the #storm that just blew through #ptbo pic.twitter.com/iajuS0G1uP
— Mark Porter (@rmarkporter) May 4, 2018
Our poor tree just blew down around 5:45pm 🙁 #ONStorm #ONwx #KawarthaLakes #bobcaygeon so windy! pic.twitter.com/wkxCVnUegR
— BNL (Dougal) (@FrDougal_B) May 4, 2018
Neighbour’s tree blew over…#ONStorm Peterborough pic.twitter.com/eAttxzhBFN
— Tamalea Stone (@tamaleastone) May 4, 2018
I've been meaning to take this old tree down, but the wind just now did it for me. Just wish it didn't come down on the driveway! It was rotten to the core.
Posted by Robert Harris-Stoertz on Friday, May 4, 2018
Roofs were damaged …
Shingles are being blown off roofs all over Lindsay. Still experiencing very strong wind gusts. #ONStorm pic.twitter.com/mfkF5yOTuX
— Brenda Stonehouse (@BLStonehouse) May 5, 2018
and people living on local lakes reported high waves. The Gannon’s Narrows bridge and causeway in Ennismore wasn reduced to a single lane, after waves washed out one side of the road.
Stormy winds and double rainbow #pigeonlake by @andrea_mcclure #kawarthalakes #thekawarthas #onstorm
Posted by kawarthaNOW.com on Friday, May 4, 2018
A wild evening on #LakeOntario in #Cobourg #onstorm Thankfully the wind is now relenting pic.twitter.com/qksNAHdT2b
— Bill Arthur (@BillcArthur) May 5, 2018
The high winds caused the most damage, but there were also localized thunderstorms, some of which produced hail.
#kawarthalakes #ONStorm #hail right now pic.twitter.com/ZqHyPmDuTQ
— I Draw2 (@wellfocused) May 4, 2018
