5 dead, power out after Canada storms

In Canada, at least five people were killed and hundreds of thousands of customers didn’t have power after a line of thunderstorms cut a violent path across parts of Quebec and Ontario on Saturday, according to Environment Canada.

The storm — with wind gusts surpassing 80 mph — uprooted trees and damaged power lines and structures across southern and central Quebec and southern Ontario, said Environment Canada, the government’s weather service. On Sunday, scattered tree limbs still blocked roads and animals were trapped by pieces of splintered barns. Utility companies rushed to restore power for customers, some of whom had been in the dark for more than 12 hours.

In Brampton, Ontario, one woman died after she was struck by a tree as she walked outside during the storm, according to the Peel Regional Police. Another person died when a tree fell on a camping trailer that was parked at Pinehurst Lake, Ontario Provincial Police said. In Ottawa, a 59-year-old man was killed after a tree fell on him at a golf course, police said.

In Quebec, a 51-year-old woman died after her boat capsized and she fell into the Ottawa River in Gatineau, just north of Ottawa, police said.

Widespread power outages continued into Sunday morning, with about 300,000 customers, mostly in Ontario, without electricity. Hydro One, a power company servicing Ontario, said that its transmission system in the Ottawa area had incurred substantial damage.