It could take days or possibly weeks to clean up all the debris and damage caused by Thursday night’s storms that ripped across Chatham-Kent.
A tornado warning was issued by Environment Canada late Thursday night. The storm brought down trees and hydro wires with nearly 100 kilometre an hour winds and intense rain, however officials with the weather agency say it’s too soon to tell whether the storm actually produced a tornado.
Dr. David Sills, Executive Director of the Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University says a survey team is being sent to examine damage from storms in Dresden on Wednesday and Windsor and Chatham areas that occurred Thursday night.
Chatham-Kent Public Works crews have been working to clear debris and reopen roads, primarily in Chatham. Director Ryan Brown says it’s some of the worst storm damage he’s seen in CK in the last five years.
“This is by far the most extensive damage I’ve seen, even though we had a lot of flooding in Tilbury the day before last and we’ve had wind storms in Blenheim earlier this year and out through the Wheatley area,” Brown says. “We’ve had our fair share of weather and this is definitely one of the top three we’ve had this year.”
Typically storm damage on private property needs to be handled by the property owner through their insurance company. Brown says the municipality is lending a hand where it can right now, including extending the hours for the Chatham Leaf and Yard Waste Depot on Creek Road so residents can take brush and branches over the weekend.
Downed trees will need to be handled by private contractors, but the municipality is helping with smaller clean-up.
“If people have a large branch in their backyard, they can bring it out to the road and Public Works will pick it up over the next couple of weeks. You can imagine it’s going to take a long time to clean up the city,” Brown explains.
Residents are reminded to stay at least one school bus length away from any downed power lines. Entegrus officials say the bulk of damage to hydro lines was caused by fallen trees and branches. The utility has called in additional resources from surrounding areas to help get all power restored as quickly as possible. To report a wire down, call 1-866-804-7325. Those serviced by Hydro One can text 92887 (WATTS) or call 1-800-434-1235.
