Wild wind knocks out power to thousands in Windsor region

Powerful winds wreaked havoc on southwestern Ont. communities, knocking out power, toppling trees and transport trucks while shutting down roads in several communities. 

• Wind warning issued for Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent

• Heavy winds cause flood watch for Windsor-Essex

Thousands of customers were without power throughout the afternoon with more than 5,000 people in Windsor alone going without electricity. In North Lambton, an outage there included 13,500 customers. 

Police had to block off sections of downtown London, Ont., while cities as far away as Hamilton were being whipped as well. The wind knocked over a transport trailer on the Burlington Skyway Bridge.

• Burlington Skyway Bridge closed due to high winds after transport truck flips onto its side

Environment Canada issued a wind warning for all of southern Ontario Wednesday morning as gusts up to 100 km/h were expected.

The wind knocked down trees throughout Windsor, damaging homes and vehicles. The city's 311 service centre received an estimated 60 calls related to wind issues, including downed trees and large limbs blocking roads.

The city typically receives four or five emergency tree requests a day.

In London, shingles blowing off a building caused streets to be shut down to protect people from the flying debris.

"We've since shut down portions of York and Clarence, and we're asking motorists to avoid the area to ensure that they're not travelling on those roads," said police spokesperson Sandasha Bough. "We're in the process of attempting to notify the business owner."

The Essex Region Conservation Authority issued a flood watch early in the day and later warned residents to stay out of wooded areas until the wind died down to avoid falling branches and trees.