The death toll from a devastating storm that blasted through most of southern Ontario is still rising.
Following Saturday’s heavy rainstorm, police have confirmed at least eight deaths and several injuries. Gusty winds have also knocked down trees and hydro wires, leaving tens of thousands without power.
Various police forces reported the latest deaths on Sunday afternoon.
In Durham Region, emergency crews were called to Ganaraska Forest around 3 p.m. on May 21 for an unrelated matter. While there, they learned that a man had been struck by a fallen tree during the storm.
Officers found a 30-year-old man suffering from significant trauma. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), meanwhile, said a 77-year-old woman in Port Hope was fatally struck by a falling tree “as a powerful weather system moved through the area.”
Provincial police also told the Canadian Press that a 64-year-old woman died after a tree fell at a home in North Kawartha Township.
The remaining five deaths were confirmed on Saturday afternoon and evening.
In Brampton, Ont., a woman in her 70s who was walking alone in the area of Belmont Drive and Birchbank Road was struck by a falling tree. Police say she was rushed to the hospital, but later died.
Hours later OPP said that a tree fell on a camping trailer at Pinehurst Lake Conservation Area near Kitchener. One person died and two others were injured.
Two other deaths were confirmed in Ottawa. A 44-year-old man in Greater Madawaska and a 59-year-old man in the city’s west end were both pronounced dead after being struck by falling trees.
A fifth death was also confirmed in Quebec by Gatineau police. Investigators say a 51-year-old woman was killed when her boat was capsized in the Ottawa River near Masson-Angers.
The storm struck shortly after Environment Canada issued a weather warning and pushed an emergency alert to the phones of Ontario residents.
By 1 p.m., winds near Kitchener were busting close to 132 kilometres an hour while at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, winds were blowing at about 120 kilometers an hour.
Source_ globalnews.ca
