Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Sandy strikes in Canada too, far from storm's center

(Reuters) - Sandy toppled trees and power lines in the Canadian province of Ontario, leaving at least 145,000 people without power on Tuesday, including 55,000 in Toronto, the country's financial center.

Strong winds whipped up debris, killing a Toronto woman on Monday.

The Toronto Stock Exchange was set to remain open, making it a North American island of equity trading for the second successive day, with U.S. stock markets closed.

Numerous flights on Air Canada, WestJet Airlines, Porter Airlines and other carriers between the U.S. Northeast and Toronto's Pearson International Airport and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport were canceled.

"It's been a long night," said Mike Bradley, mayor of the Lake Huron border city of Sarnia, Ontario, where winds are expected to gust to 100 km/h (60 mph).

"Waves were running from six to nine meters, which people around here cannot remember for at least a generation," he told CBC. "I'm sitting in the dark, we've just lost the power."

Ontario officials had warned people to stay inside as gusts from the huge storm swept through the province, citing risks of flooding and other damage. But the impact was tiny compared to the vast outages and widespread flooding seen in the U.S. East Coast.

(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Editing by Janet Guttsman)

 
Design by Free WordPress Themes | Bloggerized by Lasantha - Premium Blogger Themes | Online Project management