Downed trees, damaged homes in Essex County, Ont., as tornado researchers dispatched to region

Downed trees littered many roads, in some cases having collapsed on houses, in Essex County in southwestern Ontario. And thousands remain without power Thursday morning in the aftermath of a massive thunderstorm. 

Investigators from the Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University will dispatch teams of researchers to the area Thursday morning to determine if a tornado took place.

Toppled trees pulled up swathes of grass and pavement, including in Harrow where a massive tree fell dangerously close to a home. 

Essex mayor Sherry Bondy says residents describe what appears to be two tornadoes touching down in the area. She says she was out with town crews and OPP assessing the damage from the storm, which she said is widespread in the southern half of the municipality. 

"There was a lot of wind, and a lot of people said it sounded like a wind storm," Bondy said. "Myself, all of my garbage and recycling was torn apart all over my lawn. My neighbour's fence is down."

She said she's seen four houses with extensive damage.

"We literally have some homes that have trees right through them. Wires are down on ground."

Brooklyn Cooke's home was one of several with extensive damage in Harrow. It's one of the oldest homes in the community, she said. 

The tree went right through her stepsister's room.

"It's kind of scary going in there because there are cracks going all throughout her room it looks like it could cave in at any moment," Cooke said. 

"It was honestly devastating."

She said her stepdad was in the home and the time, and he's unharmed. The family is making plans to live elsewhere. 

"You don't think it's going to happen and then you get a call and it's right through your house."

Mark Isler saw a massive tree down on the road in Harrow, knocking out the power. 

"It was like being in a movie. It just fell in slow-mo," Isler said. "It's just chaos, everything is a mess."

Bondy said she advises residents to "hunker down" and stay home. 

"Presume any wire is live," she said. "Stay far and clear, and stay home until we know everything is safe and restored."

Bondy said she anticipates there will be additional collection for tree limbs

According to the Essex Powerlines Corporation, more than 4,100 customers are without power in Leamington. Another small outage is reported in LaSalle. 

ELK Power reports outages in Kingsville and Harrow, though the number of customers affected was not immediately available. The utility said on social media crews had been dispatched for "extensive" damage. 

"We are aware of significant damage in Harrow and Kingsville and other parts of our service territory. Crews are on site assessing the damage," the utility said on Twitter. Power had been restored in some parts of North Kingsville, they reported. 

"E.L.K. Has secured additional resources to assist in the restoration Crews will be working throughout the night. No ETR at this time as the damage is so extensive."

Hydro One reported dozens of outages in its southwestern Ontario service area, including about 1,600 people without power in Essex County. A spokesperson said crews had been dispatched to assess the damage. While no estimate of restoration was available, the utility said the most current information is available through its online outage map. 

The Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA), meanwhile, has issued a flood watch for the area.

This is due to the rainfall late Wednesday afternoon, the authority said. The flood watch remains in effect until 10 a.m. Thursday.