Environment Canada is investigating reports of a possible tornado in the Petrolia area during Wednesday's wicked storms.
Meteorologist Ryan Rozinskis said the strongest wind gust recorded at Chris Hadfield Aiport was about 46 kilometres an hour, but the storms did strengthen as they continued further east.
"We have heard unconfirmed reports of a possible tornado near Petrolia based on some structural damage and tree limbs down that we have seen," said Rozinskis. "We are currently investigating that, so we welcome any additional reports and eyewitnesses feel free to contact us."
Damage from a storm Sept 11/19 (Submitted photo by Rokeby Line resident)
He said the weather agency recorded 39.6 millimetres of rain at the airport, or about an inch-and-a-half.
Flooding on Phillip Street in Sarnia Sept. 11, 2019 (submitted photo)
Sarnia's Director of Engineering Mike Berkvens said the torrential rain overloaded the sewers and flooded streets and even dislodged some manhole covers. He said they received about a dozen calls about homes with flooding due to the heavy rain and sump pumps not working because of the power outage. Berkvens said the worst flooding was in the Ross Avenue and Carleton place areas, and Phillip Street off of Confederation Street.
Bluewater Power crews were kept busy well into the overnight hours making repairs after a substation near Maxwell Street and Indian Road took a direct lightning hit. The utility was also dealing with downed power lines and damaged trees.
All power was restored just after 2 a.m. Thursday.
Hydro One was also dealing with some scattered outages Thursday morning.
