Local residents dig through wreckage after severe thunderstorm hits Golden Horseshoe

Crews continue to dig out from the aftermath of severe thunderstorms that blew through the Golden Horseshoe Wednesday night.

As of Thursday afternoon, Hydro One reports over 21,000 customers that remain without power, with Dundas listed as one of the hardest areas hit.

Residents in Ancaster and Hamilton who were also without power said to CHCH News that they were being told to be patient as both the city and Hydro One are being flooded with calls.

Over on Norfolk Street in Hamilton, residents are continuing to dig out after a tree crashed into their roof.

“This one was the worst one, for this market, I have seen in probably 25 years,” said Chris Deathe, the district manager of the Davey Tree Expert Co. Hamilton office.

Wednesday evening’s skies featured thick, dark sheet clouds with lightning and significant damage to trees and adjacent properties.

READ MORE: Severe thunderstorm warnings issued in much of Golden Horseshoe

A red-level warning from Environment Canada warned residents that severe thunderstorms were imminent.

“We’ve moved about 18 of our crews onto storm damage,” said Deathe. “It seems to be primarily in the Hamilton Mountain, Dundas and Ancaster area.”

Deathe says they are triaging tree damage, with tree damage on houses, cars and powerlines being the first priority.

He says most of the downed trees he’s seeing are hollow and unhealthy with several defects.

“Healthy trees know how to handle a wind like this and they will absorb the winds,” said Deathe.

WATCH MORE: High winds, storm rips through Hamilton causing widespread damage

According to the City of Hamilton, forestry crews have received more than 200 calls of storm-related tree damage.

Jun Cao, a local landlord, spoke with CHCH News and said the city would be by Thursday afternoon to remove a tree that landed on their property.

A building inspector with the City of Hamilton was on Norfolk Street South to meet with Cao, to assess the damage.

Cao says no damage was done inside the home, and the fallen tree only affected the roof and front porch.

“This morning at 9 o’clock I contacted forestry, mentioning the tree falling on the property and make damage,” said Cao. “They say that their team is working in the neighbourhood to remove tree damage.”

“This tree here had basically fallen from this area and covered the road,” said Ben Sincennes, an Ancaster resident, referring to an area near his home.

READ MORE: Widespread power outages remain after damaging storms slam southern Ontario

Sincennes just moved to his Ancaster-area home a few weeks ago.

After the storm rolled through, he spent two hours removing debris from the road outside, so cars could get through.

The power was out as of Thursday afternoon, and Sincennes said Hydro One told him that the power would likely be restored Thursday night, or Friday morning.

“The emergency alerts were good,” said Sincennes. “I know those are kind of a newer thing, but we got plenty of the emergency alerts that high winds were coming.”

Deathe said there were Hamilton staff deployed to Edmonton to deal with storm damage there.

They will be returning home to work through the call list of damage here at home.

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