An extraordinary picture of hydro poles snapped and collapsed on Warden Ave. between Steeles Ave. and Denison Street in Markham has been tweeted tonight by CP24’s Arda Zakarian. Police say the poles and cables have trapped as many as 40 vehicles in the aftermath of the storms that swept Southern Ontario Tuesday night. This collapse, caused apparently by high winds blowing horizontally, is the cause of the power outage that has customers in the dark in Markham. Witnesses say the moments after the hydro pole collapse was a frightening time for trapped drivers. Power was cut and everyone left their cars safely. Meanwhile, as other parts of Southwestern and Central Ontario began to mop up from tornado damage and high winds a cracking good thunderstorm rolled over South Bayview. We have to hope those lightning strikes accompanied instantly by piercing thunder claps landed somewhere safe, like the cemetery. At Pearson Airport, winds were said to be gusting to 85 kilometres and planes were being told to divert to other fields. Ontario has reported pockets of darkness. About 4,400 were affected mostly in the west end. An Ontario Powerstream spokesperson said power was out to as many as 13,000 customers and that restoration of service might take until 7 a.m. Earlier in the day, four men were struck by lightning on a golf course in Stouffville. They were apparently seriously hurt and are all in hospital.
