Thousands in southern Ontario hit with power outages after severe thunderstorm

TORONTO — A severe thunderstorm swept through much of southern Ontario Sunday evening, knocking out power to thousands of hydro customers.

At its peak, Hydro One’s outage map showed nearly 40,000 customers without power as of midnight Monday.

That number fell dramatically overnight, with more than 5,200 customers affected by outages as of 8 a.m.

Environment Canada issued severe thunderstorm watches for a large swath of southern Ontario earlier in the morning which have since been lifted.

The statements said the thunderstorms brought torrential rain, damaging wind gusts and strong hail.

Western University’s Northern Tornadoes Project says it is sending teams to the region north of Belleville to investigate where one or more tornadoes appear to have caused extensive damage.

2:08 More severe weather possible for Quebec after tornado touches down in Laurentians