High winds caused power outages across the region Wednesday afternoon.
Both Bluewater Power and Hydro One crews were kept busy restoring service. Bluewater Power says hydro was restored to all affected customers just after 7:30pm Wednesday. Supply from Hydro One to Oil Springs, Petrolia, Watford and Alvinston was lost early in the afternoon. Hydro One estimated nearly 14,000 customers were impacted at the height of the outage and the utility's website indicated it may be 6pm Thursday before power is fully restored to customers in Plympton-Wyoming, Warwick and Lambton Shores.
Environment Canada issued a wind warning Wednesday for Sarnia-Lambton and much of southwestern and midwestern Ontario throughout he day. It was ended around 8pm.
A gust of 83 km/h was recorded at Chris Hadfield Airport in the afternoon, while both Chatham and London had gusts hit 100 km/h according to the national weather agency.
Meteorologist Geoff Coulson urged residents to prepare for damaging west winds through the afternoon into the early evening as a very intense low pressure system moved through.
"Loose objects around the property should be secured, brought into the garage, if you can," says Coulson. "These are the type of winds that we can see shingles being torn off, some branches coming off trees, local power failures may occur with winds of these speeds."
A tree came down narrowly missing a home on Thelma Ave. in Bright's Grove.
Police were urging residents to stay clear of downed lines and older trees and asking drivers to be extra cautious in strong crosswinds.
Some community events were cancelled and facilities closed due to power outages. Lambton College Employment Services in Petrolia closed at 1:30pm Wednesday. It was scheduled to reopen at 8:30am Thursday. The Oil Heritage District Community Centre and Greenwood Recreation Centre in Petrolia also had to close early.
Some flights into Sarnia's Chris Hadfield Airport were reportedly cancelled or delayed.
-With files from Stephanie Chaves
