Severe thunderstorm leaves path of destruction in the Maritimes

Thunderstorms leave path of destruction in the Maritimes Storm damage cleanup is underway in parts of the Maritimes, after severe weather destroyed homes, trees, a barn and a school.

HALIFAX — Storm damage cleanup is underway in parts of the Maritimes, after severe weather destroyed homes, obliterated a barn in Stewiacke, N.S., and ripped the roof off a school in Florenceville-Bristol, N.B.

The barn was located on the site of a five-generation farm in Stewiacke, about 45 minutes north of Halifax.

The severe thunderstorm storm included downpours, hail, and high wind gusts in excess of 90 kilometres an hour.

Several thousand Nova Scotia Power customers were also left without electricity.

While some have described it as a 'tornado,' Environment Canada says the damage pattern is more consistent with a 'straight line' wind storm - with gusts exceeding 150 kilometres per hour at the barn.

The storm system also caused damage Wednesday night in New Brunswick, peeling part of the roof off Carleton North High School in Florenceville-Bristol.

Photo courtesy: Brian Davis/YouTube

No one was inside high school at the time. The local fire department responded after the alarm went off at the school after 10 p.m.

Classes were already out for the summer, but office staff had been at the school until 5 p.m. that afternoon.

The principal tells CTV news part of a hallway is now exposed to the elements, but the full extent of the damage hasn't been determined yet.

The school was built in 1977.