Winnipeg cleans up from weekend rainstorm

Winnipeg residents are cleaning up from a weekend storm that knocked down trees, littered yards with broken branches, and caused sewer and water backups in homes across the city.

The storm dumped about 50 millimetres of rain in the city between Friday and Monday morning, according to Environment Canada. As well, wind gusts hit 81 km/h at times during the weekend.

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City of Winnipeg staff received 678 calls about downed trees and branches between Friday evening and Monday afternoon, as well as about 150 calls about flooded basements, sewer back-ups and clogged catch basins.

A spokesperson with Manitoba Hydro said Mynarski, Old Kildonan, East Kildonan, Elmwood, River Heights, Fort Garry and Charleswood were all among the most wind-blown parts of Winnipeg.

Damage ranged from fallen trees over sidewalks, roadways, car roofs and hoods, to more minor instances of broken tree branches littered across lawns and driveways.

Crews were seen cutting down branches from a tree on Corydon Avenue near Confusion Corner during the rush hour on Monday afternoon.

Tree split down middle in St. Vital

St. Vital homeowner Matt Johnston says he heard a crack and a bang before the tree in his yard crashed onto his yard on Sunday.

Johnston said thankfully, the tree landed on two oak trees and not his home.

Trilogy Tree Service co-owner Jesse Antonation says the storm twisted and turned the 80-year-old basswood until it split down the middle from the top to its trunk.

Antonation said he had planned on giving his team the Canada Day long weekend off, but instead he's had to bring everyone in to deal with a never-ending calls about downed trees.

"The weight of the water on the trees and everything plus the … 80-kilometre winds made for a kind of a dangerous cocktail," he said.

Meanwhile, Transcona resident Jeremy Toews had quite a scare on Saturday when a tree fell and briefly pinned him onto the ground as it crashed onto his car.

Toews said thankfully, neither he nor his 18-year-old daughter was hurt by the tree, which he said appeared to be old and mostly rotten when it fell down.

Hydro crews restoring power

Manitoba Hydro crews spent Sunday and Monday restoring electricity for thousands of customers in Winnipeg and across southern Manitoba who experienced outages due to strong winds and branches falling on power lines.

Hydro spokesman Scott Powell said some customers may not have their power restored on Monday, especially in parts of western Manitoba that are not accessible due to flooding.

However, he said crews hope to reach the vast majority of customers in the eastern and Interlake regions by the end of the day.