PHOTOS: 100+km/h winds pummel southern Ontario, bring outages and damage
Property damage, power outages and coastal flooding due to storm surge left their mark on the province Saturday.
Much of southern Ontario basked in temperatures reaching into the mid-to-high teens on Saturday, but with a sting in the tail: Powerful winds in the 70-100 km/h range that left behind some damaging impacts.
Those were extreme winds, and they had a major effect on communities Saturday: Numerous trees have been reported down, causing major power outages. Hydro One said more than 490,000 customers experienced outages at some point during the storm, down to under 80,000 by 6:45 a.m. Monday.
"Due to the severity of the damage, we are bringing in staff from other areas not affected by the storm to assist with assessing damaging and restoring power," Hydro One said in a statement on its website.
Some of the strongest wind gusts topped well above 100 km/h, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). The following wind gusts were among the mightiest recorded Saturday: 130 km/h in Point Petre and Port Colborne, 115 km/h at Windsor airport, 104 km/h at Hamilton airport, 100 km/h at Toronto Island airport, and 98 km/h in Kingston and St. Catharines.
Those winds also whipped up the waters of the Great Lakes into some serious waves, with authorities warning people to stay away from the lakeshores, and the storm surge triggered flooding in some coastal areas.
The winds gradually subsided in the overnight hours Saturday.
Below is a selection of how the storm's aftermath has played out on Twitter.
Thumbnail credit: Adrianna Medyk, Mississauga, Ont.
