Wind speeds topping 102 km/h ravaged much of Southern Georgian Bay Friday morning, causing damage to homes, trees and storefronts from Wasaga Beach to Stayner.
The storm surge hit Halloween night; Wasaga Beach appears to have been hit worst of all. Many residents walked beach area one Saturday afternoon to survey the storm damage.
“It's incredible, all the sand dunes they had all along here has all been washed up,” said one man as he walked his dog and looked around in awe.
“I'm worried and the cost of the cleanup, my gosh,” said long-time Wasaga Beach resident Steven Kovatt, who expressed concern the latest storm might be a sign of things to come in the area.
David Bell walked the beach area with his two children after first seeing the extent of damage on CTV News Friday evening. Bell said he fears an especially bad winter could pose more water level issues next spring and fall.
“It's just going to get worse too if you think about it. All the snow, all the ice building up,” said Bell.
Ron and Reshell Renzetti made the trip up to Wasaga Beach, from Brampton, after neighbours called to tell them their 50-foot maple tree had fallen during the storm. The Renzettis spent Saturday assessing the damage and cleaning the mess.
“The tree got heavy, and we get that west wind off the bay, and she just couldn’t handle it, and she blew over,” said Ron Renzetti.
Mort Peacock was sleeping in his bed when a tree in the backyard of his Stayner home came crashing onto his roof.
“Didn’t know it until somebody else mentioned the fact that the tree had fallen onto the house, so I came out to have a look,” said Peacock.
Peacock's home was one of 15 stops for Wasaga Tree Service since the storm hit Friday morning.
“It was bad. Significant winds I haven’t seen before. It was uprooting trees. It was pulling the roof palate right out of the ground on a lot of them,” said Pete Wilkins of Wasaga Tree Service.
Residents along beach area 5 in Wasaga Beach said the wind damaged fencing outside waterfront condominums. In Victoria Harbour, residents reported damage to docks, trees and property. Several thousands were without power for much of the day.
