Storm downs hydro lines

(Update)

Summer is just around the corner, but mother nature is still supplying us with spring showers although Wednesday night’s rainfall turned into a severe thunderstorm. Hail and heavy rain pounded the region, with some places hit harder than others leaving a trail of destruction that has some wondering if it might have been something stronger.

Uprooted trees, downed power lines and knocked over hydro poles. All damage done by a powerful storm that blew through Haldimand County. The heavy rainfall caused the creek in James Visser’s backyard to flood. But it was the sight in the sky that was most shocking to him: “Just over the woods you could see a funnel cloud, nothing big, just white clouds swirling around. It was pitch black over the lake so you knew something was going on. The power was out, obviously.”

Luckily, Visser’s duck as well as the rest of his property wasn’t damaged in the storm. But just down the road, it’s a different story. A giant solar panel on this farm was completely uprooted and knocked over:

The hardest hit area was along here on Concession Four. Haldimand Hydro say 12 of these hydro poles were knocked down with roughly two thousand customers impacted by a power outage. Crews have been working around the clock to untangle power lines and replace poles. This storm has been particularly severe with damage estimated to be in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Paul Heeg is with Haldimand County Hydro: “This is pretty significant. just the amount of poles adjacent to each other. In this particular case, we have 27,000 volt circuits on the pole which makes it a little more complicated.”

For now, the clean up continues and while Environment Canada has not confirmed , Visser has his own theory: “Definitely a tornado, how big, it’s hard to say, something massive that you see on TV. I don’t think was here. But to cause that destruction, like a path, you know, you can probably watch form Simcoe, Waterford, a trail right from the lake. something was there. whether they find something, who knows.”

Haldimand County Hydro says there are still 12 customers without power — but they’re working to have it restored by tomorrow.