Unseasonal high winds cause havoc to Island power grid

by Jim Moodie

MANITOULIN-’Twas the season to shovel roofs, bail basements, burn candles, and file a few insurance claims.

Christmas came with another wallop of white stuff to cap the snowiest December on record for many areas, including nearby Sudbury, only to be promptly followed by a sudden thaw and drenching that turned back roads into freshly slicked skating rinks and basements into swimming pools.

If that wasn’t trying enough, the weather gods then decided to throw a bit of wind-gusting up to 110 kilometres per hour in some parts of Ontario-into the mix on December 28. The result being dozens of downed hydro lines and power outages impacting over 200,000 customers in the province, including 1,600 on Manitoulin.

Residents in Mindemoya and environs went without electricity for nearly two days, causing a run on lamp oil, batteries and power adapters at Williamson and Sons Hardware, which stayed open on the Monday by running off a generator.

Proprietor Barry Williamson noted that many homes in Central Manitoulin were still flooded, and the outage caused some grief for those who were still trying to get water out of their basements, although many were able to operate pumps by using devices that convert a car battery’s voltage from DC to AC.

Wilson’s Corner Store, located at the flood-prone main intersection in Mindemoya, was “without power for 36 hours,” said owner Ben Wilson. “We had water under the store again, and lost two motors-in a cooler and a pump-because of jolts.”

The storekeeper wasn’t too upset, though. “The hydro guys did the best they could,” he reasoned. “That’s life.”

Rick Niven of the Spring Bay General Store was equally unfazed. “We were able to stay open because we have a generator,” he said. “But it was interesting to see how dark it was around here at night, and kind of surprising how many people weren’t prepared for it.”

Most Islanders had their power restored by late Monday night, but those on surrounding islands were not so lucky. Zoe McDougall, who lives on Vim Island in McGregor Bay, didn’t see the light blinking on her microwave until New Year’s Eve.

“We were without power from Sunday afternoon until Wednesday at about 1 pm,” she said. “It was a long four days.”

The same wind that wreaked havoc on hydro lines was simultaneously ripping shingles off roofs and snapping trees in people’s yards. White’s Point resident Bill Caesar said he’d never encountered winds so ferocious during his many years of living on the point, and that includes the famous microburst of July 2006.

The first blast of wind came on December 28, but after a brief lull there was another gale of near-equal ferocity on December 30. Hourly data from Environment Canada shows wind in the Sudbury area on those two dates reached speeds of 56 and 43 kilometres per hour, respectively.

“There were two absolutely incredible storms,” said Mr. Caesar. “A 14-foot aluminum boat went whooping down the point and I had to rescue it from out by the Strawberry lighthouse.”

The Holtzes of Cambridge, who just acquired a home in Little Current, had a nastier surprise when a big pine crashed through the roof of their new abode at the corner of Red Mill Road and Campbell Street. “It snapped in half and a 20-foot section came down through the roof into the master bedroom,” said Michelle Holtze.

The family had only owned the building for three weeks, but were “glad to be up there,” said Ms. Holtze from her Cambridge abode, as “we were able to prevent a lot of water damage by getting buckets under the hole right away.”

While no-one was hurt and damage was relatively minor-no windows, for instance, were broken-Ms. Holtze admitted it was an unusual “housewarming” event. “We’re hoping it’s not an omen,” she said with a laugh.

Another structure near Little Current was completely trashed in the high winds. The old Morphet barn on the Morphet Side Road, now owned by Ray and Patty Beaudry, came down in a heap in Sunday’s gale.

Lois Morphet said that her brother-in-law Alan Morphet had built an addition on the barn about 60 years ago, but the original structure was probably well over 100 years old, as “both Alan and my husband (Edwin) were born up there and their father had it before them.”

Kyla Jansen of Honora Bay lost a couple of outbuildings in the wind-a hay shed and a 12′-by-20′ horse shelter-and a week later was still sporting a “green goose egg on my head because of it,” she said, as a piece of framing struck her in the noggin as she was trying to keep one of the buildings from blowing away.

While many types of damage, including roofs that collapse from an accumulation of snow and ice, are generally covered by insurance, Ms. Jansen noted that smaller outbuildings typically aren’t insured, so she’ll incur the cost of rebuilding these.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada, in a release issued over the holiday, warned that “damage caused by overland flooding is not covered by home insurance policies,” and encouraged home owners to take appropriate steps to prevent a flood of melt water seeping into their buildings.

As January began, the wind subsided, the temperature plunged, and another round of snow began to fall, although it will take a while yet before the banks begin to climb back to the same height they’d reached in mid-December.

Many people are just now getting reacquainted with the composting bins, barbecues, and dog houses that had disappeared under the earlier welter of white stuff.

While statistics for Manitoulin aren’t readily available, Environment Canada has declared a record December snowfall for many equivalent areas, including Sudbury, Elliot Lake, North Bay and Muskoka.

Sudbury received 114 centimetres of snow in December, its biggest yuletide accumulation since 1985, while Elliot Lake broke a record set in 1996 with a new December dump of 149.4 centimetres. North Bay got walloped with 153 centimetres, while Muskoka, in the snow belt, was buried under 211 centimetres of snow.

Sudbury also set a new record for December precipitation, receiving 152.5 millimetres of rain last month-almost a third more than the old high of 111.7 millimetres, marked in 1996.

Along with the rain came near-record high temperatures in December for many parts of the province. But there have also been many sub-zero nights, and days too, as is obvious from the rate of freeze-up on Manitoulin water bodies.

Lake Manitou froze solid well before Christmas, a couple of weeks ahead of its typical schedule (of recent years, anyway), and the Strawberry Channel near Little Current was firm enough last week to support snowmobiles, not to mention an ice boat that was built by White’s Point adventurer Dave Organ.

Sledding enthusiasts anticipated an ice route to Killarney could be safe to travel in a week or so, although none of the local Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Club trails-either on land, or water-had been officially declared open as of press time.

Given the thaw of late December, and the pools of water still in the bush, a solid freeze-up and more snow are required before the trails will get the green light, according to the Rainbow Country Snowmobile Association website.