Violent Storm Blasts Ontario and Quebec

 

You were right Sha. The first of the predicted summer storms hit Ontario and Quebec on Friday. And left us all stunned at the destruction. My own house had half the shingles mangled or ripped off. The gazebo almost blew away and a huge tree in our neighbors yard was split in half and  may yet fall on our house. The tree service is so busy they can't get here until Monday

Powerful winds wreaked havoc in southern Ontario's Golden Horseshoe region , leaving 200,000 people without power and claiming at least two lives. Winds peaked at 127 kilometers an hour.
Just before 7 p.m. in Hamilton, a man in his 50s was found unconscious on a road and "in contact with live wires," a release sent out by Hamilton police said. Witnesses told police they saw the man trying to clear the wires from the roadway. Shortly after emergency services arrived the man was pronounced dead.
Police  reported that a tree fell on two men. One was pronounced dead at the scene while another was rushed to hospital in life-threatening condition.  Falling trees were a serious risk throughout the day, helping contribute to extreme Hydro One power outages as of 8 p.m.
 

 

 

 

 

'We've got a long night ahead of us,' fire chief says

Between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Friday evening, Toronto fire crews responded to 685 calls, Toronto fire Chief Matthew Pegg said.
The high volume of calls sparked a "severe weather protocol," said the chief. That means fire services will "significantly reduce" the number of trucks and crews that respond to each incident, he said.
Crews are prioritizing calls.
"We've got a long night ahead of us, for sure," Pegg said.
Most of the calls coming in are related to the "extraordinary wind" that brought down trees and wires and sent debris flying, he said. Numerous other calls were for people trapped in elevators due to power outages. Damaged roofs,  blown in windows and heavy property damage from flying debris occurred across the southern section of both provinces. The Airports grounded all flights and waited out the storm.
 We are not used to hurricane force winds and the violence of the storm frightened home owners. They had no time to prepare  or protect their homes in any way. This is a harbinger of future storms in Canada and I think we better face the fact that extreme weather events will be the norm.