There’s bound to be pieces of siding and the odd garbage can gone astray as damaging high winds battered parts of the island last evening and overnight.
Gusts were well over 100 km/h right across the island, making it a sleepless night for many. Environment Canada meteorologist Melissa Field says St. John’s International recorded peak gusts of 141 km/h.
Gusts peaked at 143 km/h in Bonavista last evening and well over 100 km/h in Gander. Gusts of 109 km/h were recorded in Twillingate, however the weather station there lost power. An unofficial station on Fogo Island recorded winds up to 130 km/h.
The Bruce II Arena’s roof seen lifting off the building in high winds (via Samantha Allen on Facebook)
Damage assessments are underway in Port aux Basques after hurricane-force winds blew the roof off the Bruce II Sports Complex yesterday.
Video posted on Facebook shows the roof lifting off the building and flapping about like clothes on a washing line.
The town council says it is aware of the importance of the rec complex to the region and it has already been in contact with its insurance provider.
The arena was built in 1996 to replace the former facility which was destroyed by fire. It contains an ice surface, two curling sheets, a six lane bowling alley, swimming pool and fitness centre.
At one point last night, over 24,000 customers across the island were knocked into the darkness. Newfoundland Power spokesperson Glenda Power says it was an extremely busy night and crews are working to get everyone back online as soon as possible.
She says crews worked through the night and are continuing work this morning in hopes of restoring power to the remaining 9,200 customers, with most outages on the Avalon. Power says they’re aiming to have power restored this morning or early this afternoon, however it may be later this evening in some remote areas.
NL Hydro is also working to restore power to customers who were left in the dark last night. Crews plan to resume work to restore power in Petite Forte, Monkstown, South East Bight and Beachside this morning.
Marine Atlantic spent the night tied up and there are a slew of cancellations at the province’s airports with flights unable to get in or out.
The high winds are expected to die down throughout the morning.
