St.Catharines hit with major winds
A major windstorm knock power out to thousands of St.Catharines residence today. The century old neighbourhoods surrounding Geneva Street were the epicenter of destruction as ancient trees were broken like twigs in the 90+ km/h winds.
The clean-up is expected to take days and the power authorities warn that it may be 48+ hours before power is restored to the 70,000 homes and businesses.
Luckily the weather is fair and there is no vital need for airconditioning or heating so, as storms go, the time this one struck is ideal. Citizens are showing a great deal of understanding and cooperation. Simply walking the streets today we witnessed many neighbours pitching in for a quick clean-up. Drivers were forced to yield to oncoming traffic on Geneva St. which somehow was not prioritized over Maple St. for clearing. (Photos of crews clearing the way on Maple are in the album) Police did not intervene in the traffic direction at Geneva and drivers took it upon themselves to take turns using the one open lane.
Update: A tree fell on a car [at Maple St.] while a man and woman were inside. That's why it got priority over Geneva.
(Thanks to Tiffany Mayer for the info.)
Some vehicles, buses and large trucks, made awful scratching noises as they passed the fallen tree.
So far the city seems to be responding with a valiant effort and citizens are pulling together for the most part. We wish those affected the best of luck in the clean-up and we can all be proud to say that we're all in this together.
Side note: Many reports say that the BeerStore on the South side of town is still open. What better excuse for a patio bbq than this! Cheers to opportunity and the optimism that makes St.Catharines and Niagara an amazing place to live.
-D-
The clean-up is expected to take days and the power authorities warn that it may be 48+ hours before power is restored to the 70,000 homes and businesses.
Luckily the weather is fair and there is no vital need for airconditioning or heating so, as storms go, the time this one struck is ideal. Citizens are showing a great deal of understanding and cooperation. Simply walking the streets today we witnessed many neighbours pitching in for a quick clean-up. Drivers were forced to yield to oncoming traffic on Geneva St. which somehow was not prioritized over Maple St. for clearing. (Photos of crews clearing the way on Maple are in the album) Police did not intervene in the traffic direction at Geneva and drivers took it upon themselves to take turns using the one open lane.
Update: A tree fell on a car [at Maple St.] while a man and woman were inside. That's why it got priority over Geneva.
(Thanks to Tiffany Mayer for the info.)
Some vehicles, buses and large trucks, made awful scratching noises as they passed the fallen tree.
So far the city seems to be responding with a valiant effort and citizens are pulling together for the most part. We wish those affected the best of luck in the clean-up and we can all be proud to say that we're all in this together.
Side note: Many reports say that the BeerStore on the South side of town is still open. What better excuse for a patio bbq than this! Cheers to opportunity and the optimism that makes St.Catharines and Niagara an amazing place to live.
-D-
For larger images, click on tumbnails below:
Update: At 7:30pm power has been restored to about 13,000 homes and businesses across the city.
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