Wild weather uproots trees across city, leaves thousands in province without power

This summer’s latest barrage of severe thunderstorms caused widespread property damage and power outages for more than 30,000 Manitoba Hydro customers, mostly in Winnipeg, as winds of up to 133 km/h wreaked havoc.

Charleswood resident Ian Glover’s house had minor damage compared with a neighbour’s home, where a large, uprooted poplar tree crashed through the roof while the storm pummelled Winnipeg late Wednesday night and early Thursday.

“I opened the window after I woke up (around 6 a.m.) and the tree — oh my God,” Glover said. “I got my wife up and she couldn’t believe it. I was totally blown away. (Our neighbour) said the branch went right through the house into their living room.”

Glover was thankful his neighbours were not injured. Some of the tree’s outer branches clipped the corner of his home.

The tree, located on a city boulevard on Cullen Drive, south of Betsworth Avenue, pulled up a large section of the ground around it.

Strong winds left messes for property owners and municipalities throughout southern Manitoba. Some streets were blocked by fallen trees.

Manitoba Hydro crews were restoring power after almost 600 individual outages occurred in the southern half of the province.

“The vast majority of the outages of the customers affected are in the city of Winnipeg,” Hydro spokesman Peter Chura said. “There are numerous power lines down. We’ve got a lot of reports of trees on lines.”

Parts of Notre Dame de Lourdes, Oak Bluff, Portage la Prairie and St. Adolphe were also in the dark. Restoration times varied.

“What we’ll prioritize first is we’ll find the outages where we can restore the most customers at once and work our way down from there,” Chura said.

People who encounter downed power lines should stay at least 10 metres away and call 911, he said.

Chura said a June 9 storm was the worst Hydro has ever seen in terms of summer storm-related damage, and Wednesday night’s event was similar.

Some businesses and offices were temporarily closed due to the outages. Cambrian Credit Union, for example, said its St. Vital and Southdale branches were without power. Fort Richmond Medical Clinic also closed due to an outage. Red River Co-op said three of its gas bars didn’t have electricity. A Safeway store in Charleswood was also closed.

Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Terri Lang said the strongest recorded wind gust was 133 km/h in Brandon.

Winds reached 113 km/h in Souris, 106 km/h in Portage, 102 km/h in Starbuck and 91 km/h at Winnipeg’s airport, she said.

A large announcer’s booth used by the St. Vital Mustangs was blown over at Maple Grove Park’s football field, crushing part of a chain-link fence.

The storm was more of a wind event than one involving heavy rain or widespread hail.

“That’s often the case when we get these really fast-moving lines of storms,” Lang said. “Lots of tree damage, power outages, shingles lost — that type of thing.”

More than 2,900 lightning strikes were recorded within 50 kilometres of Winnipeg, Lang said.

City of Winnipeg crews spent the day cleaning up downed trees and broken branches. By 3:30 p.m., the city had received 689 service requests related to trees, spokesman David Driedger said.

“(Crews) are responding based on priority. Trees or branches blocking streets, sidewalks or boulevards, or creating an immediate safety risk are handled first, while debris pickup will follow,” he said.

Driedger said there were a few reports of power outages and minor damage to city infrastructure, but city services, programs and operations were not affected by the storm.

The city received 41 reports of traffic signal malfunctions.

Jake Falk said he thinks his Chevrolet Silverado will be written off by Manitoba Public Insurance after a tree fell on top of the pickup truck while it was parked on Stewart Street in St. James late Wednesday night.

“My son was watching out the window when it happened. He saw the tree pop up (out of the ground) and then it came down on top of my truck,” Falk said. “I was kind of mad that I parked there. There is windshield damage. They’re not going to fix the roof of an old vehicle.”

MPI said the number of storm-related claims was not yet available.

Falk was preparing to run a gas-powered generator after his home lost power. The outage was nearing its 12th hour when he spoke to the Free Press. Falk was worried about food spoiling in his fridge and freezer.

The outages persisted through another hot day. Falk said he kept his doors and windows closed to try to manage the temperature inside his house.

“Right now, it’s still tolerable,” he said. “I just hope the power comes on soon.”

St. James resident Allen Unrau said the outage was an inconvenience but manageable.

“I am concerned about people with health issues going through a day without air conditioning,” he said.

Winnipeg resident Louis Thompson had to turn around on Berry Street, between Portage and Ness avenues, because it was blocked by a fallen tree during his 4 a.m. commute to work.

A large area was without power from St. James to the West End, he said.

“No traffic lights all the way. Heading to Transcona, there were lots of trees and branches down everywhere.”

Spring and summer thunderstorms have been catastrophic this year. Significant overland flooding occurred in several regions in June and early July.

A June 9 hail storm led to a record of more than 34,000 vehicle damage claims to MPI.

Tornadoes damaged homes in Rossburn in western Manitoba on June 28, and in Whyte Ridge in southwest Winnipeg on June 29.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca