Eight killed in wild cluster of thunderstorms across Canada

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said the government was ready to provide federal support after devastating storms

A major cleanup operation is underway after thunderstorms in Canada downed power lines and trees, leaving at least eight people dead (Hydro One)

The death toll from a cluster of powerful thunderstorms that tore through several Canadian provinces on Saturday has risen to eight.

The storms that swept through Ontario and Quebec damaged buildings, brought down trees and power lines and overturned cars as wind gusts reached 132kms.

Canada’s largest power company Hydro One said on Sunday night it had restored services to more than 360,000 homes in Ontario, and more than 200,000 remained without power.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government was ready to provide support if needed.

“We’re thinking of everyone affected, and thanking the crews who are working to restore power.”

The storms that swept across Ontario and Quebec yesterday caused serious damage, claimed several lives, and left many without power. We’re thinking of everyone affected, and thanking the crews who are working to restore power – we stand ready to provide federal support if needed.

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) May 22, 2022

Environment Canada said the thunderstorms developed near the Ontario city of Sarnia on Saturday morning and tracked across southern Ontario towards Ottawa Saturday afternoon. 

“Damaging wind gusts were reported over a large swath of Southern Ontario as the severe thunderstorms raced through,” it said.

Power lines were downed as a cluster of thunderstorms struck parts of Ontario and Quebec on Saturday (Hydro One)

The storms also caused major damage in central Quebec, uprooting trees, damaging buildings and leaving as many as 500,000 homes without power.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government is ready to provide help to affected provinces (Hydro One)

On Monday, Hydro Quebec tweeted that power had been returned to nearly 60 per cent of homes. It said 600 crews had been deployed, and it would take some time to resolve the outages due to “extensive damage to the network”.

UPDATE: Here’s another look at the destruction caused by the #ONstorm in #Uxbridge and #Ottawa. In the Ottawa area, crews are building a temporary by-pass to bring power back. We have all hands on deck, with every available crew and neighbouring utility here to help. pic.twitter.com/NLcPU5VwSO

— Hydro One (@HydroOne) May 23, 2022

It said the worst affected regions were the Laurentians, Lanaudière and Outaouais.

In April, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned the world has less than three years to bring global emissions into decline and avert a “catastrophic” temperature rise.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said: “We are on a fast track to climate disaster: major cities under water, unprecedented heatwaves, terrifying storms, widespread water shortages, and the extinction of a million species of plants and animals.”