The worst of Wednesday’s storm may have lasted only a couple of minutes, but some residents of St. Joseph Island say it was one of the worst they have seen.
When the sounds of high winds, heavy rain and thunder were done on Wednesday, the sounds of chainsaws and other machinery took their place.
“It only lasted 10 minutes, but it did a lot of damage,” said Garrett Taylor of Gee’s Trees, which has been assisting people with cleaning up downed trees on the island. “I haven’t heard a quiet moment yet — chainsaws have been going all day.”
Taylor was on the island when the storm hit and figures he and his crew could probably stay busy through the weekend.
“I put off other jobs I had today and tomorrow and came down here because they need as much help as they can get,” he said. “There’s a lot of devastation, especially on Canoe Point Road — it just got hammered."
Dave Thomlinson has a cottage on Canoe Point Road near Hilton Beach, one of the areas hit hardest in the storm. He purchased the property in 1976 and said he has never seen so much devastation.
Although dozens of large trees were toppled on his property — some with roots and all — his cottage was only hit with a relatively small tree and his next-door-neighbour’s property seems to have escaped any damage.
He said his patio table and chairs were still where he left them before the storm, but a few feet away a large tree was split like a toothpick.
“All of these trees got uprooted and my short were still on the clothesline held up by two pegs,” said Thomlinson. “It goes to show you how these storms work. Such a small confined area — I don’t know.”
Thomlinson and his wife Debby were in Sault Ste. Marie when the storm hit and were not able to drive Canoe Point Road after it passed.
“We couldn’t get down the road either way,” said Debby.
But then the chainsaws came out.
“Neighbours all came out from everywhere to help each other,” said Debby. “Neighbours helping neighbours."
Thomlinson said he knows the damage could have been a lot worse, or someone he loves could have been seriously injured or died.
“This kind of hurts, but it’s not devastation," he said.
Aside from blocked roads and driveways, some power lines were down in the area, leaving some people trapped and without electricity. Algoma Power Inc. crews have been working day and night to clear the owned lines and restore power.
Allen Alexander, owner of Advanced Urban Forestry, said his crews have been helping people get in and out o their driveways all day.
“We are doing it throughout the whole island, we have been getting phone calls all day,” said Alexander. “Trees on cars, trees on houses and service lines. It’s pretty extensive.”
“It’s disaster relief — helping people get out,” said Ian Naogizic, a member of the crew. “We are trying to do what we can to help people get the trees off and make everything safe. There’s a lot of damage.”