'Like the hounds of hell were after us': Flooding, wind damage as storm hammers SW Ontario

Port Dover, Ont. hard hit by weekend rain, wind From CTV London's Marek Sutherland – There was widespread flooding in Port Dover after a strong weekend storm.

London, Ont — A severe storm off the Great Lakes wreaked havoc across southwestern Ontario Sunday leaving thousands without power, shoreline communities flooded and wind damage across the region.

Photos and videos from storm chasers throughout the day showed several instances of flooding and damage across the Lake Erie shoreline, and on Monday as the winds finally settled the full extent became clear.

One of the hardest hit areas was Port Dover, where the storm surge flooded a main street.

Environment Canada recorded wind gusts well above 100 km/h in several areas and the effect was massive in Port Dover as several businesses flooded and the marina saw sailboats tipped over.

"Some of our friends had their boats go over, it was a domino effect really. One boat would go over then the next one, and the next one," said sailboat owner Burny Mumery.

Mumery said at least eight boats were severely damaged.

"I have never seen one with the winds and the velocity that this was. Just screaming right through here, it sounded like the hounds of hell were after us."

John Irving, a long-time resident of Port Dover wondered if Sunday's storm compared to one last year that saw hurricane-force winds.

"I didn't even bother coming out. I knew what it was going to be like, no sense coming down, because when people come down here and drive all they do is make waves, and the waves do more damage to people's businesses."

And several businesses were hit with high water as the storm surge came up the shoreline and into town.

Wendy Knechtel is a business owner and said that the winds were worse than last year.

"When we cam back, it was already passed my boots, up to about my knees...I've never seen it in the back, we have a drain and it's quick draining. So then you can't do anything, you just wait until it goes down."

All across the region reports came in of downed trees and power outages.

Flooding was also reported in other Lake Erie shoreline communities such as Long Point and Erieau.

In Norfolk County emergency crews spent a large portion of the day dealing with calls for damage.

Provincial police reported several calls for roofs torn off or downed trees.

In Port Albert, along the shore of Lake Huron, one viewer sent in video of several power lines down at once causing a widespread outage in the area.

At one point in time more than 100,000 customers were without power across the province, according to Hydro One, with the hardest hit areas experiencing outages overnight.

As of 2 p.m. Monday Hydro One's Storm Centre map showed dozens of outages across the region still affecting thousands of customers.

For more pictures of the damage follow this link to our photo gallery.

- With files from CTV New London's Marek Sutherland