After a violent wind storm Wednesday, work crews were busy through the night trying to restore power to customers in Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent while cleaning up the damage.
That cleanup began in earnest Thursday.
“I've had over 200 phone calls in the last 24 hours. It’s basically a state of emergency. They're calling for rain…you got people with half their roof blown off,” says Derrick Delaney, of All Star Roofing in Windsor.
Wind gusts of up to 100 kilometres an hour toppled trees and fences and flipped transport trucks on Wednesday.
A big loss for Windsor and its parks department was a massive evergreen tree at the gateway to Jackson Park. It was one of many trees uprooted.
At Tamar Building Products, the lineup formed outside before the store even opened Thursday.
“We've been through a lot of weather and situations and I’ve never, ever seen it like this before,” an employee says.
Enwin Utilities crews worked into the night and all day Thursday to restore power.
“There is still a lot of damage across the city that needs to be repaired and will be repaired over the next few days,” says Enwin’s Barbara Pierce Marshall.
The Hydro One website reports fewer than 20 homes in Essex County remain without electricity, but some of those residents may have to wait until 10 p.m. on Friday before power is fully restored.
In Chatham-Kent, Hydro One says approximately 375 homes remain in the dark and the estimated restoration time is 8 p.m. on Friday.
