ontario storm damage

Ontario is still cleaning up the damage from yesterday's vicious storm

Torrential downpours, fierce cracks of lightning, and winds of up to 100 km/h ravaged Southern Ontario on Sunday, causing damage to everything from trees and houses to entire farm estates.

Environment Canada reports that "a line of strong to severe thunderstorms" hit the region yesterday afternoon, at one point prompting Tornado warnings for parts of the GTA and beyond.

While no tornadoes are thought to have touched down in Toronto, researchers from Western University are currently working to confirm two suspected twisters near London, Ont.

As usual, people from all over the province captured and shared stunning footage of the storm in action.

The skies above Toronto darkened fast around 1 p.m., sending everyone outdoors running inside.

Images of clouds rolling in, shot from afar, suggested that the storm would be an intense one.

Thunder and lightning were frequent once the downpour began, making for a scary yet beautiful scene.

And what a downpour it was...

I'm talking sheets of heavy, hard rain — enough of it to impair visibility and make driving dangerous.

Toronto only saw about 9 mm of rain in total, but it came down in just minutes, causing flash floods in some low-lying areas.

The power went out for nearly 40,000 households across Southern Ontario, according to Hydro One, though it has since been restored to all but roughly 3,000 people.

Toronto Fire said on Sunday that it had responded to about 16 reports of wires being knocked down between 1 and 1:30 p.m. alone.

Many trees and power lines were downed in Toronto on Sunday, but no injuries have been reported as a result of the storm to date.

Some homes were damaged by flying debris, however.

Still, wide, open areas outside the city got hit far worse in terms of damage. According to Environment Canada, damage was sustained to barns, silos, camper trailers and houses in many parts of Southern Ontario.

Cleaning up from the storm will likely take some time for those whose properties were damaged by split trees, fierce wind and flying objects, but they did get a rather pretty sunset out of the ordeal.

Ontario also got a much-needed reprieve from the hot and humid weather it had been experiencing — though that same type of weather is expected to return to Toronto within days.

Lead photo by

Vincent Demers


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