Canada Day storm downs trees, causes power outages across St. Marys and beyond

A large century tree in the St. Marys Cemetery was severely damaged by the Canada Day storm. St. Marys town staff say the town had an arborist in last week to assess whether the tree would need to be taken down entirely or if it could be saved.

By Galen Simmons

A powerful storm that swept across southwestern Ontario on Canada Day left behind downed trees, power outages and scattered property damage in St. Marys and across the region, though the community’s Canada Day celebrations escaped unscathed.

The severe thunderstorms rolled through the region late in the afternoon on July 1, bringing high winds, torrential rain and frequent lightning. Across Ontario, Hydro One reported roughly 170,000 customers without power Wednesday evening as the storm toppled trees and hydro lines throughout much of the province.

In St. Marys, the storm arrived after the town’s Canada Day festivities had wrapped up.

“(Director of culture, tourism and engagement) Amy (Cubberley) has informed me zero impact,” St. Marys director of public works Jed Kelly said. “The event ended at 3 p.m. Cleanup was done around 4 p.m., storm hit at 4:45 p.m.”

The storm brought down between six and eight large trees across the community, along with numerous large branches.

“Looks to be about six to eight trees with various limbs additionally throughout town,” Kelly said. “Some trees came down on power lines, creating various outages throughout town. Town staff were in yesterday and in contact with Festival Hydro who responded extremely promptly. Traffic lights were affected for a period because of the power outages.”

Town staff quickly shifted their focus from Canada Day cleanup to storm response.

“We had the parks staff sweep town parks and trails for smaller branches; larger cleanups have been queued,” Kelly said. “Public works staff focused on the large, downed tree cleanups near road allowances, sidewalks and near our triathlon route this weekend. Cleanups will likely continue into next week.”

While no injuries were reported in St. Marys, Kelly said there was some damage to vehicles caused by falling trees and branches.

The storm also inflicted significant damage to at least one mature tree at St. Marys Cemetery.

“Another larger – likely a century tree – took some significant damage at the cemetery. We have our arborist coming in for review of damages; not sure if the rest will have to come down,” Kelly said.

Across southwestern Ontario, high winds downed trees and power lines in Perth, Oxford, Middlesex and Huron counties, leaving thousands of customers without electricity into Thursday. Hydro One crews continued working to restore power throughout the region, with officials urging residents to stay at least 10 metres away from any downed power lines.

Despite the storm’s strength, Kelly credited the town’s ongoing tree-maintenance program with reducing the amount of damage in St. Marys.

“I think for the most part, our quadrant-pruning tree-maintenance and inspection program is paying dividends,” he said. “We can see it when we have storm events like this with minimal cleanup required.

“I do feel fortunate that we have the internal resources and equipment to respond effectively. Additionally, I’d like to thank my staff who are working through the cleanups in this heat.”