Windy wrath

Strong winds and sometimes heavy rain are pounding parts of the area, leaving scattered scenes of destruction in and around the city.

The winds and rain began hitting the area early Tuesday morning and are expected to remain for possibly a couple of days. Environment Canada released a special weather statement stating the Thunder Bay area could see up to 50 millimetres by Wednesday.

The rain’s wrath has been dwarfed by the wind’s fury in some areas of the city.

"At the airport in Thunder Bay, we’ve already have had wind gusts of up to 56 kilometres per hour," said Environment Canada spokesman Jeff Coulson. "Now we are forecasting potential wind gusts of up to 70 kilometres an hour."

The effects of those wind gusts are evident in many parts of the city.

Thunder Bay Police Service officers were directing traffic away from Balmoral Street between Oliver Road and Beverly Street Tuesday afternoon after wind took down five hydro poles. Thunder Bay Hydro officials said the street would likely still be blocked off to traffic into the evening rush hour.

Thunder By Hydro spokeswoman Eileen Dias said the winds that took down the poles on Balmoral Street have been keeping hydro crews busy across the city.

"High winds have been plaguing the city all over, we’ve just been hammered," she said. "Power lines are down across the city. There are trees on lines and poles have been broken."
Dias added that scenes like the one on Balmoral Street may leave some hydro customers in the dark well into the evening. As of about noon Tuesday Thunder Bay Hydro estimated that nearly 10,000 of its customers in the area were without power.

Weather also provided an unexpected mini-holiday for some south-side schoolchildren.
St. Thomas Aquinas School is closed because of the weather. Hydro crews are attempting to fix a problem, but due to its severity, the school will remained shuttered on Wednesday.

The Canada Games Complex is also closed for the evening.