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The Observer | Saturday, July 26, 2008
Both parties act on their dreams as biz changes hands............................. »13 Conestogo sisters just gotta dance
»15 VOLUME 13, ISSUE 30
SATURDAY, JULY 26, 2008
www.ObserverXtra.com
PRICELESS
A FORCE OF NATURE Over in 10 minutes, a powerful rainstorm that struck Elmira Monday left a swath of damage in its wake, toppling trees including this one at a home on the corner of Park Avenue and Centre Street. Parts of PHOTO | MARC MIQUEL HELSEN the town were without power for more than three hours.
Storm was short, fast and furious
This summer’s unsettled weather takes a turn for the worse in sudden downburst that hit Elmira MARC MIQUEL HELSEN Although it lasted just 10 minutes, the rainstorm that whipped through Elmira Monday afternoon left a significant amount of damage in its wake. Gone as quickly as it came, the localized storm snapped trees, toppled poles, and flooded the streets as sewers were
“I was heading out for lunch and went up to Conestoga Mall, and as I walked into the mall I turned around and saw this really dark, ominous looking cloud north of Waterloo; I thought, ‘boy, that looks like it could be trouble.’ When I came out, my cell phone started ringing about the damage up in Elmira, but at that point in Waterloo the sun was shining. It was one of those things
overwhelmed by the volume of water. Much of Elmira was left without power for more than three hours. When the weather system passed, people took to the streets, assessing damage and snapping photos of a storm that was so localized it spared St. Jacobs and Waterloo. “It was so targeted, so isolated,” said John Janzen of Waterloo North Hydro (WNH).
that unless you were in it, you really didn’t have an appreciation for what just happened.” Before heading south through Bloomingdale and Breslau, and then on to the U.S. via Hamilton and Niagara, the storm, which originated off Lake Huron, inundated Elmira with rain and hail, knocking down trees and utility poles, which were strewn across roadways.
Woolwich Township’s public works building saw its roof peeled off temporarily by the strong gusts of wind that reached speeds between 80 and 100 kilometres per hour. Almost all of WNH’s available staff hit the streets of Elmira at approximately 1 p.m. – 20 minutes after the storm passed – and a healthy contingent worked well into See STORM »02
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