Storm sideswipes Halton Hills area

Storm sideswipes Halton Hills area

LISA TALLYN Staff Writer For the second time in just over two weeks Halton Hills was buffeted by a powerful storm that knocked down trees and kept town and hydro crews busy throughout the night. Environment Canada had issued a tornado watch warning for Halton Hills and many surrounding areas Wednesday afternoon but the nearest report of a tornado touching down was in Guelph. Acton area resident Kim Kirk of Hwy. 25 was shocked to find a 60 ft. maple tree across her driveway after the storm Wednesday night. "The roots were lifted right out of the ground," said Kirk. All that's left in the ground is a gaping hole. The strong winds also tossed her screen gazebo about 100 ft. across her front lawn and "bent it like a pretzel," she said. See STORM, pg. 5

Storm brushes Halton Hills

Continued from pg. 1 The high winds came in at about 8:30 p.m., bent their trees "like candy canes," and knocked their power out, said Kirk. Soon after they were startled by the sound of "something breaking" and later discovered their 100-year-old maple tree had been ripped out of their front yard. Ted Drewlo, Manager of Public Works for the Town of Halton Hills, said Wednesday's storm was not as intense as the last one on July 17, but it did knock four trees down on area roads. He said crews were out until 10:30 p.m. after the storm passed through, removing trees from Main St. in Glen Williams, 15 Sideroad west of Sixth Line, Fifth Line between 5 and 10 Sideroads, and Ninth Line north of Wildwood Rd. They spent much of Thursday finishing the clean-up. Kurt Durski of Halton Hills Hydro said fortunately Wednesday's storm didn't take out any major hydro feeders or cause large-scale power outages. He said crews were busy, however, dealing with individual power outages at some homes in the rural areas.

George Adams of Norval surveys the damage to his 2001 Chev pickup after Wednesday night's storm blew down a tree from his next door neighbour's yard on top of his truck. Photo by Ted Brown