WATERLOO -- Residents in Waterloo Region are picking up the pieces after a strong wind storm ripped through Southern Ontario on Saturday.
On Sunday, Environment Canada reported peak wind speeds of 93 kilometres per hour in the region, leading to downed trees, hydro lines and lost power.
"It was horrifying,” said Patricia Russell, shaken after a tree crashed through the townhome roof of her neighbour. “We heard the loudest bang. It was like a big 'whoosh' and it sounded like a big truck here had hit something.”
Officials with the Cambridge Fire Department (CFD) said no one was hurt in the incident, but the home has been declared unliveable and inspectors will evaluate the structure on Monday.
Russell said the winds started picking up around 3 p.m. and the sound was so scary that she and her mother stayed in the basement through the storm until about 10 p.m. on Saturday.
"[I] couldn't sleep last night. It was, 'Should we be upstairs?' All those thoughts are going through your mind," Russell said.
In Waterloo, Bruce Campbell was enjoying a cup of tea with his wife when a tree fell into his yard along Laurel Street on Saturday afternoon.
"What sounded like, I don't know, thunder, a freight train, you name it. And then we connected the dots. It was a tree," Campbell explained.
Campbell said the tree was around 90 feet tall with a 38 inch diameter trunk, which also knocked over a large maple tree during the fall.
The Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) reported receiving several calls related to downed hydro lines, fallen trees and blowing debris on Saturday. WRPS reporting at least one person was injured as a result of the storm activity.
Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro, North Waterloo Hydro and Energy-Plus reported that all outages have been resolved within their own service areas.
On its Twitter account, Hydro One reported over 115,000 customers are still without power as crews continue to asses the full extent of the damage from the storm and some may be without power beyond Monday.
