Vaughan cleans up after severe thunderstorm leaves trail of damage

Damage includes downed hydro poles, submerged cars, electrical problems, fallen trees: mayor

Wednesday's severe thunderstorm left a trail of damage in Vaughan and crews are out in force to clean up its aftermath, Mayor Steven Del Duca says.

The storm brought down hydro poles, snapped trees and branches, left vehicles submerged in water and caused electrical problems in the city north of Toronto, Del Duca said in a post on the social media platform X on Thursday. The storm's impacts also included fires, he said.

"I know the last 24 hours have been difficult for many families in Vaughan," Del Duca said.

"Thank for your continued patience as our crews work as quickly and safely as possible to clean up our community and address the remaining impacts of the storm."

In a news release Thursday, the city said Vaughan Fire and Rescue Service responded to more than 10 times the normal call volume on Wednesday night, with 113 incidents reported, including fires, submerged cars and medical calls. No serious injuries were reported.

The city said it received more than 140 service requests about flooding and debris on roads and more than 150 calls related to trees. Many trees and branches were brought down, particularly in Woodbridge, it said.

Most roads that were closed or flooded have been reopened, it added.

Major sinkhole closes part of Huntington Road

A major sinkhole, however, has closed Huntington Road at Trade Valley Drive and Huntington Road north of Rutherford Road.

York Regional Police said they are aware of damage to Huntington Road north of Trade Valley Drive and two trucks were affected.

No injuries were reported, they said.

The city said it has also received reports of water on the road near Martin Grove and Langstaff roads and crews were on their way.

Work to clear trees expected to continue for days

Meanwhile, crews continue to clear uprooted trees and broken branches, and work is expected to continue over the next few days, the city said.

"To help address the high volume of service requests, additional crews and contractors have been deployed, with more expected to be added as they become available," the city said.

Alectra Utilities said by 1 p.m. Thursday that power had been restored to customers in Vaughan left in the dark by the storm.

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Rocco Napoli, who lives in a Vaughan suburb in the city's southwest end, said he is assessing damage to his home after a large tree toppled onto it.

"Right now, it looks like it could be a few broken trusses, some shingle damage. I'm not sure if it punctured a hole in the house yet."

'I want to get this tree off the house': resident

Napoli said he would like to move forward from the damage.

"I want to get this tree off the house," he said.

Pushant Prashar, who is visiting family in Vaughan from England, said the weather was frightening.

Prashar said his relatives had a power outage, lost WiFi, and experience some flooding.

“It was mad, almost, a huge amount of rain that just came down in an instant and then the winds and everything, and now trees have been hit. Neighbours over there, they’ve had their trees uprooted. It was absolutely crazy chaos.”

Prashar said the alerts on his phone caused anxiety.

"Hopefully, everyone will get back to normal soon enough," he said.

With files from Christian D'Avino