The Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) is sending a damage survey team out Thursday, following a massive storm system that rolled across southern Ontario late Wednesday afternoon.
The group out of Western University said the most damage was reported from Bayfield to Cambridge, with reports of one barn destroyed.
“It appears the damage is mostly due to straight-line winds, but it’s possible that there was a tornado or two involved,” said NTP officials.
“Note that there are a couple of images being passed around online that are supposed to show observed tornadoes in Guelph and Paris but we believe these could be AI fakes. These are becoming increasingly prevalent in storm situations.”
Damage in the North York area, and near Barrie at Orr Lake is also being investigated.
Numerous weather alerts lit up phones across Waterloo Region and beyond around the 5 o clock hour Wednesday calling for damaging winds, severe thunderstorms, and the possibility for a tornado to develop.
The Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) told CityNews Kitchener between 5:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m., 64 calls came in regarding dangerous conditions caused by the storm. This included reports of downed trees, power lines, and traffic light outages.
The most extreme level of tornado and thunderstorm warnings were issued during that time, at a red-level warning.
“This is a very dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation,” read the alert. “Destructive winds, damaging hail and flooding rainfall are all possible.”
GrandBridge Energy covering the Cambridge and Brantford areas, reported at least 12,000 customers without power around 8:00 p.m.
At around 2:35 a.m. Thursday, crews were still working to get the power restored in parts of Ayr and throughout North Dumfries. That was restored by 6:00 a.m.
Enova Power Corp. reported over 17,000 customers in the dark just after 7:00 p.m. Wednesday. By 6:00 a.m. Thursday morning fewer than 100 customers were without power.
“Unfortunately, extensive damage due to trees & branches on powerlines means some customers will be out of power overnight,” said Enova officials. “Crews will continue to work through the night.”
We appreciate your patience while crews work to restore service to 17,000+ customers affected by outages due to high winds during this evening’s storm. Many trees and lines are down throughout our area. Stay safe: Keep 10 meters back from downed power lines as they could be live. pic.twitter.com/09tnLdyORf
— Enova Power Corp. (@enovapower) September 2, 2026
Kitchener forestry crews were also busy following the storm, with more than 60 calls about downed trees and debris across the city.
City officials said they would first work to clear roadways, before moving on to sidewalks and non-urgent areas by Thursday morning.
They did not expect any services or city programs to be impacted by storm clean up on Thursday.
In Waterloo, city officials said clean-up of debris could take several days.
In Toronto, the intense weather brought torrential rain, large hail and the risk of a tornado as well. Video on social media showed large hail falling and downpours flooding vehicles and bus stations, sending people running for cover.
The storm caused flight delays and cancellations at Toronto’s Pearson airport, and left some serious damage to Rogers Stadium, a 50,000-capacity music venue in the city’s north end.
The commute through Perth and Huron counties remained a tricky one Thursday morning. OPP West Region posting there were still several road closures in effect as of 5:45 a.m., due to debris and downed hydro lines.
UPDATE (Sept 3 – 5:45 a.m.): Several roads remain closed due to fallen trees and downed hydro lines caused by severe weather conditions.
Some of the affected roads include:
Perth Line 55 between Highway 23 and Road 166
Highway 8 from Clinton to Road 140
Perth Line 44… pic.twitter.com/PBisetPoA8— OPP West Region (@OPP_WR) September 3, 2026