London and the surrounding area was hit hard by a series of storms that brought heavy winds, rain, and hail Thursday afternoon.
Locals shared reports of fallen trees, power outages, ear-splitting thunderclaps, and ping-pong ball-sized hail on social media.
Severe weather warnings that had been put in place earlier in the day were lifted shortly before 7 p.m.
Environment Canada had also warned about the possibility of tornadoes earlier in the day.
Sarnia residents also reported palm-sized hail, and weather experts are investigating if the area experienced any tornados.
London Hydro reported more than 80 outages in the region, affecting roughly 7,000 customers at the peak. The company reports that by 1:15 a.m., 95 per cent of London Hydro customers had their power restored.
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As of 10:30 a.m. on Friday, London Hydro was reporting that 200 customers were still without power, including an outage in the Old South neighbourhood, which was reportedly hit hard by the storm.
Restoration time is unknown at this time, but a spokesperson for London Hydro told 980 CFPL that work to restore power is going well.
“We appreciate our customers’ patience through this, because it does take time,” said Nancy Hutton, London Hydro spokesperson.
“Our crews have to protect our customers, the public, and themselves and reconnect it safely, which takes a little more time.”
Paul Yeoman, director of parks and forestry, says the cleanup work is going smoothly.
“We’ve got 14 city crews out and contract staff, they were working late last night and will be going well into the evening tonight, and minor cleanup will continue into next week,” he said.
Over 170 reports of tree damage and fallen branches have come in, with more coming in. Yeoman adds that the calls have been concentrated to Old South.
Residents are encouraged to contact the city if they need to report tree issues at trees@london.ca.
Forecasts for next week are calling for more rain, with Sunday in particular forecasting a risk of strong thunderstorms.
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