Like a wrecking ball: Heavy winds damaging property across Avalon Peninsula

Andrew Sampson | CBC News | Posted: March 11, 2017 11:04 PM | Last Updated: March 17, 2017

Heavy winds on the Avalon Peninsula are causing pain for local businesses, homeowners

Image | Lester's Farm

Caption: The high winds on Saturday blew the plastic covering off the roofs of many greenhouses at Lester's Farm Chalet in St. John's. (Twitter)

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Homeowners with projects under construction and business owners across the Avalon Peninsula are reeling from the effects of a nasty wind storm that has seen winds gust up to 158 km/h.

At Lester's Farm in St. John's on Saturday, the winds tore apart at least five of the farm's greenhouses, ripping plants from their beds and decimating the farms plant stock.

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In a note shared on Facebook, the farm's owners said that while they were able to save some of the seedlings in the greenhouses, "farming in NL [is] not for the faint of heart,"

Damage in parking lots

At grocery stores across the Avalon Peninsula, rogue shopping carts and cart corrals were a real concern.

The Sobeys parking lot near Long Pond was especially hard hit.

Image | Bobby Baker Sobeys Wind Damage

Caption: The cart corral at Sobeys near Long Pond went airborne, to the detriment of this car. (Bobby Baker)

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According to witness Bobby Baker, the cart corral flew into the air and landed on several vehicles.

Witnesses and workers then helped secure it in a safe location.

Image | Bobby Baker Sobeys Picture

Caption: Workers and volunteers help secure the cart corral at Sobeys near Long Pond on Saturday. (Bobby Baker)

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Ripped home apart in Mount Pearl

Across town in Mount Pearl, a home under construction was there one minute and gone the next.

Image | Mount Pearl wind

Caption: A home under construction in Mount Pearl was devastated by high winds on Saturday. (Submitted)

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Neighbour Trevor Menchions told CBC News that heavy winds completely decimated the roof and top floor of the home next door to him.

"We were looking out our back window and we just saw live chunks of it start to fall off," he said.

In all his time living on the Avalon peninsula, Menchions said he's never seen a wind storm of this magnitude.

"I'm staring out the back window while there's still a bit of daylight, seeing the big chunks of debris, and I'm watching cars slow down to look in because where there was a two-storey home, you've now got a one-storey with nothing."

Environment Canada says heavy winds are expected to subside overnight, while Newfoundland Power has confirmed that tens of thousands of customers throughout the Avalon Peninsula are still without power and may be until morning.