Severe storm rips through Brantford and southwestern Ontario
One person was killed and two others were injured after a tree fell on a camping trailer at Pinehurst Lake during a severe storm that ripped through Brantford and Brant County on Saturday.
The OPP reported the death and injuries on Twitter on Saturday afternoon. The investigation is continuing.
The storm uprooted trees, downed branches and also left many people without power for a couple of hours in Brantford and the surrounding area.
“It was pretty incredible,” Carol Browning of Dalhousie Street near Park Avenue, said after the storm had moved on. “I could see the clouds coming in, then we got some rain and hail and it got really bad.
“We could see the tree swaying back and forth and I just knew it was going to go.”
Her son Dominic, 6, was playing out front and thought a tornado was coming. He headed into the house and down to the base for cover.
The trunk of the tree in front of their home broke off with parts of the tree landing on a neighbour’s truck while the rest of it blocked one lane of the one-way street. Brantford police were on the scene with cruiser lights flashing as a warning to oncoming motorists.
“We’ve been living here for six years and I’ve seen a lot of storms but nothing like this,” Browning said. “I never thought I’d see this tree come down.
“There was loud crack and then, a few minutes later, it was all sunny and hot again.”
The storm also ravaged trees in nearby Alexandra Park. Some trees were uprooted while others lost branches in the park bordered by Park Avenue, Colborne Street, Peel Street and Dalhousie Street.
A block away on Darling Street near Drummond Street, a large tree knocked down hydro wires blocking the entire street. Brantford fire and police officers were on the scene and tape was set up to keep people away.
Wires could be seen entangled with tree branches creating a safety hazard.
There were also reports of downed branches and uprooted trees in other areas of the city including West Brant.
There were also numerous power outages and Grandbridge Energy said, on social media, that several crews had been dispatched to restore power to residents.
“We are aware of multiple weather-related power outages in #Brantford,” Grandbridge said on Twitter. “Our crews have been dispatched to investigate.
“Thanks for your patience.”
Residents were being reminded to stay back at least 10 meters – the length of a school bus – from any downed wires.
In the Mayfair area of Brantford, the power went out at about 12:21 pm and was restored about 40 minutes later.
By 3 pm, power had been restored to the majority of customers in Brantford. However, crews were still busy working in small pockets of outages throughout the city.
Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis went on social media to encourage people to call city hall at 519-759-4150 ext. 7 for storm clean-up inquiries.
“Was that a storm or what,” Davis said in a video posted to social media. The video was taken at Alexandra Park.
Davis said forestry crews and work crews from the city were out cleaning up branches from city streets. He urged residents to be patient as work continued.
Work crews in Brant County were busy on Saturday clearing roads following the storm.
County officials asked residents to be patient as it make take several hours to reach all areas of the affected roads. Some roads were closed and county officials reminded residents to stay away from downed hydro lines.
Clean up may take a couple of days, county officials said.
The severe weather also resulted in the closure of Grand River Conservation Authority trails and natural areas due to tree damage.
“The weather system that swept through Southern Ontario on Saturday afternoon has resulted in significant damage to trees in several (GRCA) natural areas and on GRCA trails throughout the watershed. As a result, these trails and natural areas have been closed while staff evaluate the damage,” the GRCA said in a media release.
The closures impacts the Elora-Cataract Trailway, Cambridge-Brantford Rail Trail, SC Johnson Trail (Paris to Brantford) and Brantford-Hamilton Rail Trail.
Also included in this closure are all GRCA natural areas, including Dumfries (Cambridge), Snyder’s Flats (Bloomingdale), FWR Dickson/Bannister Lake (south of Cambridge) and Starkey Hill (Guelph).
Pinehurst Lake Conservation Area is closed until further notice but all others remain open. “Visitors are asked to exercise caution and avoid areas that have been closed,” said the release.
Updates are available at
www.grandriver.ca/conservationareastatus
and