Strong winds cause downed trees, power outages in Windsor-Essex | CTV News

Strong winds have led to downed trees, leaning hydro poles, power outages and cancelled events in Windsor-Essex.

Environment Canada issued a wind warning for the Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent regions on Saturday with strong winds with the potential of gusting up to 100 km/h.

Enwin has confirmed power outages in some areas with customers in Downtown, South Cameron, South Windsor, Roseland West and East impacted by the outages.

Traffic lights at the Tecumseh Road West and Ouellette Aveue intersection also went out.

There have also been reports of downed trees in the area. Fire crews were on the scene in the 2600 block of Columbia Court for a tree that split and fell into a duplex.

A tree split and fell into a duplex in the 2600 block of Columbia Court due to strong winds in Windsor, Ont. on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021. (Alana Hadadean/CTV Windsor)

It was reported fire and police crews also responded to severely leaning hydro poles in Lakeshore and Tecumseh as well as sparking hydro wires and downed trees in the 12500 block of Riverside Drive. 

Due to the heavy winds, the Town of LaSalle has opted to cancel its ‘Holiday Lights and Sounds of the Season’ event.

The town says due to the high wind warnings all previously scheduled activities have been cancelled and the lights will not be turned on Saturday night.

The high winds have also squandered anyone’s Saturday night plans to take a walk through the Bright Lights display in Jackson Park.

City of Windsor park officials have been keeping an eye on the area and say displays have blown over, so for everyone’s safety access to the park and display will not be available.

“Bright Lights opened on Dec. 2, 2021 and will run until Jan.9, 2022 so there is still plenty of time to visit once the winds subside and any clean-up needed can be completed,” a news release from the city said.

“Environment Canada has issued a strong wind warning for today and into this evening, with predicted winds gusting to 90 km/h. The cancellation is in an abundance of caution for public safety. Please be cautious during this weather event.  We thank you for your support,” a news release from the town said.

Environment Canada said strong winds developed behind a cold front that is sweeping through southern Ontario.

The agency warns of utility outages and damage to buildings and encourages drivers to be prepared to adjust you driving with changing road conditions due to high winds.