Powerful, brief storm topples trees, causes damage in Windsor and county

Residents in Windsor’s west side could only laugh as they assessed the damage of Tuesday evening’s brief but powerful storm that ripped down huge tree branches and tossed around one couple’s heavy backyard gazebos.

Wind gusts reportedly reached as high as 100 km/h at the Windsor International Airport, according to Environment Canada, which issued a severe thunderstorm watch for Windsor and Essex County at 6 p.m.

The worst part of the storm lasted about half an hour, which was long enough to snap tree limbs and down power lines as it travelled quickly through the area from Michigan. Hydro One reported power outages for nearly 15,000 customers in nearly a dozen communities throughout the county, including Kingsville, Leamington, Essex and Lakeshore.

Hunter Quinn didn’t need a weather update to understand the power of the storm. Sitting on his front porch on California Avenue, watching the wind and rain, he heard a loud “crack” as a massive branch was torn from a tree right in front of him.

He later stood next to the large trunk of the tree that was ripped apart by the winds and took stock of the damage.

“This is the problem right here,” he said, listening to the hollow sound coming from the tree as he slapped it with his hand. “That thing’s dead. But instead of the city cutting it down, or letting me cut it down, I have to wait until it falls on my house and kills my family.”

Several of his neighbours were not overly surprised by the tree damage either. Residents echoed Quinn, saying the trees are rotten and not maintained by the city, causing them to break easily in heavy rain and wind. The street was littered with branch debris after the storm.

Vera Drude’s home was hit the worst in the 3000 block of California. A bolted-down gazebo in her backyard was ripped out of the concrete during the powerful blast. When it was all over, the twisted frame hunched over the toppled furniture as she assessed the damage. A second gazebo sat at the bottom of her pool.

“I saw the wind lifting the gazebo and I was gonna come out and try to hold it down, but then I thought: I could end up in the pool,” she said, walking around the yard after the wind and rain subsided.

The immaculate yard took days to set up at the beginning of summer, but just minutes for the wind to tear it down. Just the night before a neighbour was over having wine in the same backyard. Sue Atherton was shocked when she returned after the storm.

“This is the backyard. Everything is perfectly in its place,” she said observing the mess and trying to imagine the destructive power of the wind. “And these chairs. These are heavy chairs. I can barely pick them up.”

The area surrounding California Avenue was likely hit the hardest within Windsor, according to firefighters who were busy responding to downed trees and power lines.

“It was concentrated in South Windsor area, but we were lucky we didn’t have any fires or too much damage to people’s homes,” said Lee Tome, chief fire prevention officer with Windsor’s fire department.

Most of the power was expected to be restored to customers before midnight Tuesday, according to a Hydro One spokeswoman. The only exception was Pelee Island, where a back-up generator that has been providing power appeared to be have been struck by lightning. Hydro crews plan to head there Wednesday morning.