Winds leave towns powerless

Ken Johnston

With the winds a howling, the residents of Northwestern Ontario did not see the light for many hours last Wednesday.
Winds of more than 50 miles per hour knocked trees down and snapped off hydro poles. Rural areas lost their power around 7 a.m. that day and Rainy River was in the dark around Noon.
While the hydro crews worked feverishly to remove trees from lines the wind storm spread east knocking out power to much of Northwestern Ontario, even the big city of Thunder Bay was not immune.
Rainy’s power came back on around supper time and the winds subsided later that evening. Then it was time to clean up the mess.
Just east of town, St. Pierre’s saw their display of homemade wishing wells (for sale) obliterated. The shelter that was over them ended up across the highway and the wells were in pieces.
At the Pinewood bridge trees were across the lines and that is where the bulk of the problems for the west end of the district were.
In town a hydro poll was snapped off at the base. Richard Trenchard’s home at the corner of 2nd St. and River Ave. W. saw its property fence knocked over. Most of the sun-shelters put up for the 100th were blown down as well.