About 300 people were still without power in the Greater Toronto Area on Friday evening after an overnight storm swept across much of the region.
According to Hydro, at the peak of the storm some 15,000 customers lost power as freezing rain knocked down power lines and trees across the area.
In Markham, powerful winds toppled the fencing at a driving range, causing one of the poles to come crashing down on a nearby building, damaging the roof.
North of the city, freezing rain coated trees and homes, while on n Lake Simcoe, residents awoke to the sound of ice pushing up onto the shoreline, damaging at least one boathouse.
Meanwhile, a coast guard vessel and a Toronto fire boat were sent out to rescue two boats that broke loose. One drifted across to the islands. Crews had to battle choppy waves to secure the vessel.
In Etobicoke, a small ceiling fire which spread to appliances early Friday morning was caused by downed power lines near the Islington Ave. and Rathburn Rd area. Cpt. David Eckerman of the Toronto Fire Services said the call came in at approximately 6:20 a.m. There are no reports of any injuries. Eckerman said crews are pulling down the ceiling in the house.
In Toronto’s Beach neighbourhood, CP24 is reporting that residents heard a loud explosion at approximately 1 a.m. before the power went out, leaving 900 customers in the dark.
Gillian Earle, a spokesperson for Toronto Hydro, said the outage may have been related to the extreme winter-like weather.
By the late morning the freezing rain had turned to a steady drizzle.
Hydro said it should have the rest of its customers back on the grid by the end of the night.
