Wicked storm rips through Elgin County hamlet

Storm damage on Mapleton Line in Elgin County.

Residents on Mapleton Line in Elgin County are still assessing property damage after a wicked storm ripped through the historic rural hamlet Saturday afternoon.

“Continuous thunder. A lot of rain and wild wind,” said Mark Lovell, who lives on Mapleton Line.

“There was no emergency alert sent to the phone. It just everything started moving very quickly.”

IN PHOTOS: Elgin County storm damage

The aftermath is visible.

“We’ve got a lot of trees down and the power is off of course,” said Lesley Moncrief.

“Lines are down, the road is blocked. We are using a generator and touching base with all the neighbors to make sure they’re okay.”

The Moncrief’s had a massive tree ripped from its roots, smash their shed.

“It was close to the house, but fortunately it went the opposite way so no damage to the house or barn,” said Russ Moncrief.

“There was probably about six other trees that had the first 15 to 20ft taken off the top of them. There’s several more trees back in this spot here that were blown right down”.

They even had a tree limb go right through their car window which was parked off their driveway.

There was also damage in the surrounding areas. On Belmont Road, just a km away, a tree fell onto a car, other massive trees are snapped, and residents are without power and many have flooded basements.

On Dorchester Rd, a roof of a barn was torn off.

Hydro crews are expected to arrive later today, but residents are thankful the smoke has subsided, and the temperature is cooler as they have no power.Hydro One crews have grounded the wires surrounding the snapped trees and poles.

Mapleton Line remains closed with three large trees blocking the road, so residents who live in that stretch of about 500-750 metres are unable to leave via their own vehicles.

Despite some property damage, the Moncrief’s believe it could have been worse.

“There was no loss of livestock or pets that we are aware of in our neighbourhoods,” said Lesley.

“So that’s a good thing and as far as I know, no one injured.”