City
Lauren O'Neil
Posted on November 16, 2020
Report Inaccuracy
toronto wind storm

Toronto wind storm sends construction debris flying from top of tall building

City
Lauren O'Neil
Posted on November 16, 2020
Report Inaccuracy
Latest Videos

Toronto is waking up to some serious storm damage this dreary Monday morning after a nasty wind storm ripped through the city, blowing planks from high-up construction sites into the sky and, eventually, into buildings.

One of the worst wind storms to hit Ontario this year so far, Sunday's extreme weather event saw gusts as high as 118 km/h recorded at the Toronto Island Airport.

In nearby St. Catharines, winds were clocked at a record-breaking and truly scary 141 km/h per hour.

So fierce were the winds that they actually shook the ground on Sunday evening, as evidenced by data from seismographs placed along the Leslie Street Spit.

Damage from the storm has been widespread throughout Southern Ontario, where some 179,000 homes are without power as of 9:30 a.m. on Monday, according to Hydro One.

Large power outages were reported in East York on Sunday, but Toronto Hydro says that service has now been restored to most customers.

Environment Canada had warned about potential damage from wind and falling trees ahead of yesterday's storm, caused by a "potent Colorado low," but many in the city either missed the memo or couldn't batten down enough to save their stuff.

Beyond the typical patio furniture damage, entire glass balcony panes were shattered to smithereens.

And in the downtown core, huge pieces of plywood and/or insulation could be seen flying all over the place.

Witnesses estimate that at least 40 pieces of debris came down from the top of a building near Yonge and Wellesley on Sunday just after 5 p.m.

The building in question appeared to be the forthcoming (and currently under-construction) Ivy Apartments at 8 Gloucester St.

As is often the case when storms get this nasty, many trees were also taken down by the wind.

And anyone who was caught outside when the winds were nearing peak speeds hurried fast to seek shelter.

Driving conditions were, obviously, poor on Sunday afternoon as heavy rains pelted local highwways.

Peel Police said that a "sheet of drywall" could be seen blowing across Highway 401 near Hurontario Street around 4 p.m. on Sunday — and, believe it or not, damage was even more extreme outside the GTA.

Fortunately, no injuries have been reported to date.

As one Toronto Instagram user surmised, however, someone is likely in pretty big trouble after failing to prevent all of that construction stuff from raining over the downtown core.

Lead photo by

Wandernia
Latest Videos

Latest Videos

Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in City

People spotting Toronto's fancy Roombas for cutting grass in parks are enthralled

Ontario just got hit with an earthquake and officials blame this mine

TTC workers are gearing up to go on strike and here's what you need to know

Here are the highest and lowest paying gig jobs at the City of Toronto right now

Yonge-Dundas Square renaming to Sankofa Square is about to become more official

A 7-kilometre stretch of the TTC subway will be closed for this entire weekend

Years of construction on major Toronto street set to extend even longer with new project

Toronto just got a beautiful new streetscape but oops it's already being torn up