Extreme winds cause hefty damage to Kingston and surrounding areas

People in Kingston and along its surrounding shorelines are in repair mode after Friday’s high winds.

Gusts topping 100 km/h felled trees and knocked down traffic lights. The wind also destroyed a number of docks, according to Wolfe Island resident Laurence Gray — including Gray’s own dock at the General Wolfe Inn.

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Gray told CKWS that the western part of his property has extensive damage, mostly due to the violent waves crashing against the shoreline.

Laurence said the waves reached two feet, destroying not only his dock but also the concrete that his dock was anchored to.

Gray estimates repairs will cost thousands of dollars, and with the boating season ramping up, he hopes to have everything fixed within the next two weeks.

A video was sent in to CKWS anonymously by someone saying that a small boat was pulling a long dock near Colin’s Bay, in between Amherst Island and Lemoine Point Conservation Area on Monday. The person who took the video said he called the Coast Guard, who had no problem with the dock being pulled in that way.

WATCH: Small boat pulls dock near Colin’s Bay

0:12 Boat pulls dock near Colin’s Bay

Friday’s wind storm also hit the mainland pretty hard.

A 40-foot green spruce tree fell to the ground at 651 Truedell Rd. on Friday night.

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Luckily, the towering tree didn’t fall on the nearby homes.

Pearl Poffley, who is in her 70s, said she didn’t hear the tree falling — but she was alerted by one of her neighbours that the tree was on the ground.

When Rob Poffley, Pearl’s son, pulled out his chainsaw to start cleaning, he said he saw his community spring into action.

“When there’s a weather event, people seem to pitch in and help,” said Poffley.

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Kingston was not the only city to be hit hard.

Across Eastern Ontario, hundreds of thousands were left without power.

Hydro One said on Monday that they have been working since May 5 to restore power to over 530,000 customers, although some homes across Ontario are still without power.

Utilities Kingston said that only a handful of homes went without power in the city. The real issue was the amount of traffic lights knocked down. On Saturday, Utilities Kingston found 13 traffic signals completely blown off, and 18 others twisted in place.

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Since Utilities Kingston had a little less to deal with than surrounding areas, they are currently out helping Hydro One with their repairs outside of Kingston, sending their linespeople out to places like Wolfe Island, Elgin, Veron and Campbellford to help reconnect lines.

• With files from Sharmeen Somani