At least nine dead after ‘fast and violent’ thunderstorm tears through Ontario

The death toll and damage estimates from the rare, violent storm that ripped across Ontario and Quebec over the holiday weekend continue to mount, with at least nine fatalities and thousands of homes still without power as utility crews work to repair extensive destruction to the power grid.

The storm took a 1,100-kilometre journey of destruction with wind speeds equivalent to a low-grade tornado.

Two Ontario towns, Uxbridge (in Durham Region) and Clarence-Rockland (near Ottawa), declared states of emergency, which allows them resources to help with the cleanup.

Seeing my town like this is like something from a movie," says Uxbridge resident John Watt, who headed out as soon as the skies cleared on Saturday to see what he could do to help. It's just chaos everywhere."

Uxbridge Mayor Dave Barton said 33 houses need to be repaired before people can move back in and some were lost for good.

The storm downed more than 1,000 trees across Uxbridge and there is no internet, little power and spotty cell service, Barton said.

The roof blew off our arena and then landed in a hydro wire," Barton said. It will take us a long time to get through this."

The damage to the power grid is extensive and complicated, hydro utilities reported Sunday.

Between trees, branches, broken poles and wires down, it's really a very, very messy, messy cleanup," said Hydro One spokeswoman Tiziana Baccega Rosa.

Hydro One said in a news release late Sunday that crews had restored power to 360,000 customers, but 226,000 were still without electricity.

In the Ottawa area, its crews were building a temporary bypass after four transmission towers were toppled by the storm.

Joseph Muglia, director of system operations and grid automation at Hydro Ottawa, said only about 5,000 customers had their power restored Sunday, leaving more than 170,000 still in the dark.

Clarence-Rockland Mayor Mario Zanth attempted to speak with the Star, but multiple attempts to call failed due to power outages and lack of cell phone service in the area.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said at a news conference late Sunday afternoon that the storm's impact is affecting every corner of his city.

Yesterday's storm was fast and violent," he said. It ravaged really the entire city."

And while he sympathized with residents struggling to cope without power, he warned they may not see it restored for three or four more days.

This has been a very, very difficult 24-hour period," he said. We don't have clear sight as to when everyone will get their power back."

Falling trees killed a 30-year-old man in Ganaraska Forest near Oshawa, a 74-year-old woman in Port Hope, a 64-year-old woman in North Kawartha Township, a 44-year-old man in Greater Madawaska west of Ottawa, a 59-year-old man in Ottawa, a woman in her 70s in Brampton and one person camping near Pinehurst Lake in Waterloo Region.

A 51-year-old woman died after her boat capsized in the Ottawa River. On Sunday, an 80-year-old woman was killed by a falling branch near Kitchener.

In Newmarket, Deneena Davis, a high school teacher, brought her chainsaw to neighbours whose homes were buried by century-old trees torn out by the roots.

One homeowner expressed relief: a large tree crashed through the nursery window just minutes before she planned to put their baby to bed.

Lisa Millar, too, was relieved an old maple missed their home. Winds were so strong, she said, the family couldn't open their doors.

All of a sudden the winds swirled, the sky turned green and I started shouting."

It was four minutes of fury, said Karen McLennan. It looked like Armageddon here. Not the way we expected to spend Victoria Day weekend."

Watson said the city didn't need to declare a state of emergency because that mainly allows it to override procurement processes and that's not necessary right now.

The City of Ottawa has opened nine respite sites at community centres and areas for people to charge their devices, take showers and, in some cases, access some food. The Salvation Army and Canadian Red Cross are aiding at many of the sites.

Toronto Hydro reported 7,600 homes still without power Sunday evening, down from 110,000 in the wake of the storm. It told the Star its emergency crews are working around the clock and hope to restore electricity to all by Monday.

In Quebec, close to 350,000 were still without power Sunday afternoon, down from 550,000 during the storm.

The storm exited Quebec and moved into Maine later on Saturday, said Gerald Cheng, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, but a severe thunderstorm warning stayed in effect into late Saturday evening.

On Sunday, Environment Canada still had tornado watches active in southeastern regions of Quebec including Beauce, Eastern Townships, Montmagny and L'Islet. The agency was watching for severe thunderstorms in Amqui, Temiscouata, Rimouski and Kamouraska.

Cheng said the storm appears to have been a derecho," a widespread, long-lived wind storm associated with rapidly moving thunderstorms.

When you look at the damage, that was widespread, it wasn't just one track."

Wind speeds of 132 km/h were recorded during the storm, equivalent to a low-grade tornado. This triggered an emergency broadcast urging Ontarians to seek shelter, the first Environment Canada has ever sent out.

David Sills, executive director of the Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University, says the storm might have been even faster than what was recorded.

We're seeing evidence of some damage, such as roofs off and hydro towers crumbled, that kind of thing that gets more into ... 180 to 220 km/h."

This would be the first derecho storm to hit Ontario with wind speeds this strong since 1995, said Sills.

This is a fairly rare event in Canada where it's just widespread wind damage over a long, long track and reaching wind speeds that are quite high."

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With files from Alessia Passafiume, Jillian Follert, Kim Zarzour and The Canadian Press

Ben Cohen is a Toronto-based staff reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @bcohennAnde Fraske-Bornyk is a reporter for the Star's radio room based in Toronto. Reach her via email: afraskebornyk@thestar.ca