A series of severe thunderstorms rolled across the region during the afternoon of Wednesday, July 24. The result was damage to trees and properties and power outages. Environment Canada had issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch early in the day. During the afternoon, the watches were upgraded to a Severe Thunderstorm Warning. A Tornado Warning was issued and many people sighted one forming in the sky, but there is not yet any official confirmation of one touching down.
There was significant damage in and around L’Orignal. Highway 17 was closed for several hours between Cassburn Road and Blue Corner Road.
In Hawkesbury, heavy rain caused at least one storm sewer to overflow, flooding a parking lot and Hamilton Street near the intersection with Main Street.
Heavy rain, hail, and wind also damaged crops. At Parachute Farm, a small-scale produce and flower farm near Vankleek Hill, the field was hit badly.
“We’re estimating the hail and high winds have cost us thousands of dollars worth of damages. Barely any crops were spared. All our greens and fruiting crops are bruised from the hail, which are typically our most profitable crops,”said Maggie Winchester, who operates the farm with Mattson Griffiths.
“Our Swiss chard now looks like Swiss cheese,” Winchester remarked.
She said time will tell if any of the damaged crops will rebound.
Hydro One reported more than 2,800 local customers were without electricity. Most local outages were in Champlain Township, Alfred and Plantagenet, The Nation Municipality, and North Glengarry. Hydro-Québec reported nine localized outages affecting an undetermined number of customers in Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, Brownsburg-Chatham, Harrington, Wentworth, and Gore.
For regular updates on power outages at any time for Hydro One customers, go to https://www.hydroone.com/power-outages-and-safety/stormcentre-outage-map?bodyOnly=true/. For Hydro-Québec customers, go to https://infopannes.solutions.hydroquebec.com/info-pannes/pannes/pannes-en-cours?langue=en.
