OTTAWA—A tornado ripped through the Ottawa area Friday afternoon, damaging homes and vehicles as severe thunderstorms and high wind gusts also pounded southern Ontario.

Extensive damage to houses was reported by residents in Ottawa and in nearby Dunrobin. In Gatineau, Que., cars were overturned on Highway 50, said Environment Canada, which confirmed a tornado had touched down in the region.

Approximately 25 people were injured in the storm and at least six were taken to hospital for treatment, the city of Ottawa said in a statement, adding that about 100 buildings were damaged.

Chris Angeconeb, his wife and their two sons went outside after getting a weather alert on their phones and saw a wall of rain and cloud coming toward their neighbourhood in Dunrobin.

Angeconeb, 52, said the clouds started to revolve in the sky and then it got eerily calm. One his sons, who is a volunteer firefighter, said it looked like a tornado was coming.

From the basement where they took shelter under the stairs, they could hear objects hitting the house.

“You could hear things ripping. The wind was just amazingly strong,” said Angeconeb. “It was intimidating and scary.”

After a few minutes, the noise subsided and when they went upstairs, there was debris everywhere.

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“It was devastation,” he said.

“The house across the road — their garage was gone. Our good neighbour’s house — their house looked completely destroyed. And his neighbour, two doors down, their house was gone. The top level was gone and it was just the basement left.

A number of people are in hospital, some of them badly injured after a powerful tornado ripped though the National Capital Region. The twister smashed dozens of homes in the Ottawa area neighbourhood of Dunrobin and in Gatineau, Quebec. The property damage is vast as trees and power lines were torn down over a wide area. Electricity was knocked out for tens of thousands of hydro customers. Hydro Ottawa workers have been working through the night to restore power to thousands of customers left in the dark.

“The man who lives there was asking for help because his sister had been hurt.”

Angeconeb said his house was in a relatively good shape, but the southwest side was damaged. The roof was ripped off in that corner and pieces of lumber were lodged in the wall.

“We were freaked out by it all. There is a little bit of shock on the part of everybody in our house, but otherwise we are OK.”

The family is going to spend the night with friends in a nearby community after firefighters asked them to leave the area over concerns about natural gas.

“I don’t think they are going to let us in there until a structural engineer goes in there and has a look and makes sure everything is safe,” he said, adding that first responders should be commended for getting to the neighbourhood quickly.

“We had a really fast response from the Ottawa fire service. It really helped a lot that they were there to make sure we were OK.”

Peter Kimbell, a meteorologist with the national weather agency, said a line of thunderstorms running from west of Ottawa and into Gatineau were expected to continue into Friday night.

Fire trucks lined streets in Gatineau, where debris and downed trees covered roads. Massive billboards were also overturned near the Sabourin arena.

The city issued a statement Friday announcing the opening of a mobile command post and an emergency measures centre. Municipal authorities also carried out evacuations in collaboration with the Red Cross and the campus of Cegep de l’Outaouais was converted into a disaster centre.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged residents of both cities to “stay safe, follow the instructions of first responders and check in with people who might need extra help.”

“We’re monitoring the situation and thinking of everyone affected,” he said on Twitter.

The city of Ottawa said there were two areas of suspected tornado damage, Dunrobin and Nepean.

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Greg Fergus, the Liberal MP for Hull-Aylmer, said the densely populated Mont-Bleu area suffered a “significant amount of damage.”

The roofs were torn off a school and several apartment buildings, he said, estimating about 1,500 people have been displaced.

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Ottawa resident Glenn Johnson said he and his partner were in their kitchen just after 5:30 p.m. when the storm blew out their windows.

“We were trying to get down in the basement ... and glass started flying,” said Johnson, who lives in Nepean. “My partner got her foot cut and I got hit with flying glass as we were trying to get the dogs and cat and everything down in the basement.”

He said the roof of his neighbour’s house was torn off and the second storey of another house was gone by the time the intense system passed.

“You can’t even get down the street because there are so many giant trees that had been taken down,” Johnson said. “My backyard just looks like a junk yard right now.”

He said he has gone door to door to check on neighbours and wasn’t aware of any injuries in his area.

“There had been kids in the park right behind our place up until about 15 minutes before this happened and there was a big tree that went down in the park where the kids’ playground is,” Johnson said. “It could have been much, much worse.”

Matthew Willson was moving his lawn in Pinhey’s Point when his wife told him to come inside to seek shelter.

After the raging winds calmed down, he received a call from his mother, asking him to check on her barn. When he got there he saw the barn roof ripped off, with trees scattered on the ground.

The roof of the barn was shorn off. Willson and much of his community had received a warning about the tornado around 4:30 p.m., right before it hit.

He said they’d received similar warnings in recent weeks.

“Realistically,” he said, “if it was coming over the top of us we wouldn’t have had time to do anything.”

Willson said he went to the Dunrobin store, a general store and community hub where locals gathered and where Willson got pizza with his kids on Friday nights.

He said the store was severely damaged. Across the street, the Heart and Soul café and gift shop, a family-owned business, was also hit.

“Right now there are no words and we do not know where we’re going to go from here,” said the family in a Facebook post.

“Please pray for us as we have suffered a loss such as this once before and I do not know if we could survive another,” they added. According to the store’s website, the property was built in the 1900s but destroyed in a fire in 2008. The store reopened after almost a year, the site said.

Ottawa Hydro said there were more than 85,000 power outages in the city because of the storm.

The Greater Toronto Area saw thunderstorms and wind gusts of up to 80 kilometres per hour, also leaving thousands without power.

Hydro Toronto said on Twitter that more than 5,000 customers were without power and restoration efforts were expected to last into Saturday.

“We have all available crews out in the field,” Toronto Hydro said. “They’re working in dangerous conditions and, at times, are not able to start repairs until the wind weakens.”

Alectra Utilities, which covers most of the GTA, said more than 6,000 residents were without power.

With files from Premila D’Sa

Read more about:</s>OTTAWA — Environment Canada says a tornado touched down in Ottawa and Gatineau, Que., on Friday afternoon as much of southern Ontario saw severe thunderstorms and high wind gusts.

Peter Kimbell, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, says the tornado overturned cars on Highway 50 in Gatineau and caused extensive damage to houses in Ottawa's western area of Dunrobin.

He says the worst is over for the region, but tornado warnings are still in effect in the Ontario communities of Prescott and Russell.

Kimbell says a line of thunderstorms running from west of Ottawa and into Gatineau are expected to continue for several hours.</s>Environment and Climate Change Canada has confirmed that a tornado touched down in the Ottawa area.

A spokesperson for the weather agency told CTVNews.ca that the tornado touched down near Dunrobin, Ont, causing "pretty significant" damage, before heading across the Ottawa River.

The tornado made it as far as Highway 50 near Gatineau, overturning several cars.

Environment and Climate Change Canada had issued a tornado warning for the Ottawa region, which was ended at 5:36 p.m.

A subsequent warning was issued for Prescott and Russell United Counties east of Ottawa as well as the Papineauville - Chénéville area near Upper Gatineau.

The national weather service says they're tracking a severe thunderstorm that could possibly produce a tornado, as well as damaging winds, large hail, and intense rainfall.

The storm was moving east at 80 km and as of 5:36 p.m. was located near Rockland, Ont.

Other locations possibly impacted by the storm include Gatineau, Orléans, Rockland, Vanier and Beauchampville.

The weather agency warned that the situation was “dangerous and potentially life-threatening.”

The Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management recommends individuals in the area take cover immediately if threatening weather approaches.

Tornado watches are also in place for Brockville, Cornwall, Haliburton, Peterborough-Kawartha Lakes, and the Smith Falls area.

Much of the rest of southern Ontario and Quebec is under wind warnings. Thousands of people are also in the dark around the GTA, and in parts of southern and central Ontario.

Warnings are expected to continue into the early evening as a cold front brings near 90 km/h southwesterly wind gusts.</s>It was eerily quiet inside the police perimeter of one of Dunrobin's most-damaged neighbourhoods — and only a few trees were still standing. Personal items were strewn everywhere — a baby blanket, a life jacket, mattresses, lawn mowers, a fridge, a kitchen sink lying on the grass and even a love seat wrapped around a telephone pole.

A car, windows shattered, lay on its side in front of a house. Fluffy, pink insulation — sucked out of ravaged homes — covered the neighbourhood.

Looking at one house, the blue sky could be seen through an open door. Its roof had vanished.

Some houses had nothing left at all and lay flat on the ground, covering their vehicles.

Officials warned people not to re-enter their homes until they had been deemed safe as firefighters went door-to-door to determine whether structures were still sound. In Dunrobin, authorities said many buildings that had emerged from the tornado partially intact would likely have to be torn down.

Conrad informed people in the Ottawa area to brace for a multi-day power outage following what he described as a "cascading failure" of hydro resources.

"Last night's storm was devastating to our electrical infrastructure, arguably as bad if not worse than the ice storm in 1998," Conrad told reporters.

He said there were 200 separate outages across the Hydro Ottawa network and 147,000 customers without power. Hydro Ottawa only serves some of the people left without power because of the tornado.

To put it into perspective, Conrad said the electrical load that comes into Ottawa on any given day this time of year is about 1,000 megawatts. The storm took away about 400 megawatts from the supply.

"That's what we're working with — that's why we are dark," he said, listing off communities around the western, southern and some central parts of Ottawa.

"On behalf of the government of Ontario, I want to tell the people of Ottawa that my thoughts are with them as they work to recover from the tornado and storm that impacted the Ottawa area yesterday; especially to the people of Dunrobin who saw immense damage to their homes and community," said Ford, who also thanked first responders and hydro crews.

In Gatineau, leaders of major political parties took a pause from the province's ongoing election campaign to visit areas walloped by the tornado.

Setting aside their political differences, Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard and Parti Quebecois Leader Jean-Francois Lisee visited one of the most devastated parts of Gatineau together. Coalition Avenir Quebec Leader Francois Legault and Manon Masse, a co-spokesperson for Quebec solidaire, were scheduled to arrive in the area later Saturday.

Environment Canada confirmed Saturday that indeed a tornado struck the capital region. Meterologist Simon Legault said there was evidence of powerful winds between 180 and 220 kilometres per hour, which would correspond with an EF2 category tornado.</s>OTTAWA — A tornado damaged cars in Gatineau, Que., and houses in a community west of Ottawa on Friday afternoon as much of southern Ontario saw severe thunderstorms and high wind gusts, Environment Canada said.

Peter Kimbell, a meteorologist with the national weather agency, said the tornado overturned cars on Highway 50 in Gatineau and caused extensive damage to houses in Dunrobin.

Fire trucks lined streets in Gatineau, where debris and downed trees covered roads. Massive billboards were also overturned by the Sabourin arena.

Kimbell said tornado warnings were still in effect in the Ontario communities of Prescott and Russell. A line of thunderstorms running from west of Ottawa and into Gatineau were expected to continue for several hours, he added.

“The worst, I think, is over, but there is the potential for more,” Kimbell said of the Ottawa region.

Meanwhile, the Greater Toronto Area saw wind gusts of up to 80 kilometres per hour, he said. About 11,000 residents in the area were without power Friday because of the storm.

Hydro Toronto said on Twitter that more than 5,000 customers were without power and restoration efforts were expected to last into Saturday.

“We have all available crews out in the field,” the utility company said. “They’re working in dangerous conditions and, at times, are not able to start repairs until the wind weakens.”

Alectra Utilities, which covers most of the GTA, said more than 6,000 residents were without power.</s>OTTAWA -- A tornado carved a destructive path through the Ottawa-Gatineau area on Friday, tearing roofs off of homes, overturning cars and felling power lines. According to Environment Canada, Canada gets more tornadoes than any other country except the U.S. Other high-profile twisters include:

1912: Known as the "Regina Cyclone," Canada's deadliest tornado ripped through six city blocks in Regina, Sask., on June 30, killing at least 28 people, injuring 300 others, and leaving a quarter of the city's population homeless. While it only lasted for a few minutes, it took the city almost 50 years to pay for the damages.

1922: Multiple tornadoes hit southern Manitoba on June 22, killing five people and causing $2 million in damages, equal to nearly $30 million in 2018 dollars.

1946: Canada's third deadliest tornado tore through the Detroit River on June 17, killing 17 people and damaging 400 homes in Windsor, Ont., and the surrounding areas. The twister also demolished over a hundred barns and farm buildings.

1974: A series of deadly tornadoes -- known as the "1974 Super Outbreak" -- struck Ontario and multiple U.S. states between April 3 and 4. Eight people died when a funnel cloud touched down in Windsor, and over 300 died in the 13 affected American states. With 148 tornadoes confirmed, it was the second-largest tornado outbreak on record for a single 24-hour period.

1985: 14 tornadoes hit multiple Ontario communities on May 31, including Barrie, Grand Valley, Orangeville and Tottenham. Twelve people total died, eight of them in Barrie, and hundreds more were injured. The family of tornadoes also destroyed or damaged more than 1,000 buildings.

1987: Canada's second worst killer tornado struck Edmonton, Alta., on July 31, killing 27 people. Sometimes known as the "Black Friday Tornado," winds reached 400 km/h and hail as large as softballs fell from the sky.

1996: Tornado-related damage in Canada topped $50 million this year after multiple tornadoes ripped through parts of Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta during the spring and summer.

2000: Canada's first deadly tornado in 13 years struck Green Acres campground near Red Deer, Alta. on July 14, killing 12 people and injuring 140 more. It was the deadliest tornado in North America in 2000. As well, 91 tornadoes were reported throughout the Prairies that summer.

2007: On June 22, the country's first F5 tornado -- the most powerful on the Fujita intensity scale -- slammed Elie, Man., with winds exceeding 420 km/h. No fatalities or serious injuries were reported, though the strong winds severed utility poles, uprooted trees, and reportedly picked up an entire house and carried it a few hundred metres through the air.

2011: A historic Ontario town was devastated after the province saw its strongest hurricane since 1996. One person was killed and 40 more were injured after an F3 tornado hit Goderich on Aug. 21.</s>OTTAWA (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of people were stranded without power in and around the Canadian capital Ottawa on Saturday after a tornado touched down twice, destroying some houses and ripping the roofs off others.

At the same time high winds also battered the region and Ottawa mayor Jim Watson said it could be days before electricity was fully restored. At least six people were injured.

“It’s in the top two or three traumatic events that have affected our city,” Watson told reporters. “It looks like something from a movie scene or a war scene.”

The tornado hit on Friday evening, demolishing homes in the town of Dunrobin to the north west of the city before crossing over to the town of Gatineau, which lies directly to the north of Ottawa in the province of Quebec.

High winds damaged part of Ottawa’s major electrical substations and officials said around 200,000 people on both sides of the river were without power. Ottawa and Gatineau together have a population of around 1.3 million people.

“We have lost absolutely everything. I have got a beer fridge that’s sitting in my garage - that is the only thing that is untouched - but everything else has gone,” Ottawa resident Todd Nicholson told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. He was not home when the tornado struck.

Quebec premier Philippe Couillard broke off campaigning ahead of an Oct 1 provincial election to travel to Gatineau.</s>OTTAWA — A tornado damaged cars in Gatineau, Que., and houses in a community west of Ottawa on Friday afternoon as much of southern Ontario saw severe thunderstorms and high wind gusts, Environment Canada said.

Peter Kimbell, a meteorologist with the national weather agency, said the tornado overturned cars on Highway 50 in Gatineau and caused extensive damage to houses in Dunrobin, Ont.

Fire trucks lined streets in Gatineau, where debris and downed trees covered roads. Massive billboards were also overturned near the Sabourin arena.

Kimbell said tornado warnings were still in effect in the Ontario communities of Prescott and Russell. A line of thunderstorms running from west of Ottawa and into Gatineau were expected to continue for several hours, he added.

"The worst, I think, is over, but there is the potential for more," Kimbell said of the Ottawa region.

Ottawa resident Glenn Johnson said he and his partner were in their kitchen just after 5:30 p.m. when the storm blew out their windows.

"We were trying to get down in the basement ... and glass started flying," said Johnson, who lives in Nepean. "My partner got her foot cut and I got hit with flying glass as we were trying to get the dogs and cat and everything down in the basement."

He said the roof of his neighbour's house was torn off and the second storey of another house was gone by the time the intense system passed.

"You can't even get down the street because there are so many giant trees that had been taken down," Johnson said. "My backyard just looks like a junk yard right now."

He said he has gone door to door to check on neighbours. No major injuries have been reported.</s>Parts of Canada’s national capital were still reeling Saturday after a powerful tornado carved paths of destruction through residential neighbourhoods – snapping huge trees, tossing cars and obliterating homes along its way.

READ MORE: From the inside of a tornado, a Gatineau man shot video on the third floor of his building

The tornado inflicted heavy damage late Friday as it churned across pockets of Ottawa’s west and south ends, as well as densely populated sections of the neighbouring Quebec city of Gatineau.

The storm’s bite continued to be felt across a wide swath of the region many hours later, with more than 150,000 customers still without power Saturday afternoon. Hydro Ottawa CEO Bryce Conrad compared the magnitude of the damage to the power grid to the debilitating ice storm of 1998.

The human toll was also significant. Authorities said dozens of people suffered injuries, however there were no reports of fatalities or of missing people.

The Ottawa Hospital tweeted that two people were in critical condition, one was in serious condition and two others were stable. Officials established shelters for those who couldn’t return home and they said crisis counselling would be available.

On the north side of the Ottawa River, Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin said more than 700 of his citizens were impacted by the storm and about 100 people took refuge in a shelter Friday night at a local college. More than 215 buildings suffered damage or were destroyed in his city – affecting a total of 1,686 housing units, he added.

In areas lashed by the tornado, scenes of the havoc were everywhere. The winds tore the roofs from numerous large buildings, bounced large sections of metal bleachers across soccer fields, knocked over hydro poles and cracked thick trees like twigs.

“It looked like it was something from a movie scene or a war scene,” Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson told reporters Saturday recalling what he saw in the area of Dunrobin, where some 60 buildings were wiped out or partially destroyed.

“Literally, it looks like some bomb was dropped from the air.”

Much of Dunrobin, a semi-rural community about 35 kilometres west of downtown Ottawa, remained cordoned off by police Saturday afternoon.

WATCH: ‘Charlie’ the beagle pulled from rubble after tornado touches down in Ottawa neighbourhood

It was eerily quiet inside the police perimeter of one of Dunrobin’s most-damaged neighbourhoods – and only a few trees were still standing. Personal items were strewn everywhere – a baby blanket, a life jacket, mattresses, lawn mowers, a fridge, a kitchen sink lying on the grass and even a love seat wrapped around a telephone pole.

A car, windows shattered, lay on its side in front of a house. Fluffy, pink insulation – sucked out of ravaged homes – covered the neighbourhood.

Looking at one house, the blue sky could be seen through an open door. Its roof had vanished.

READ MORE: Here’s what we know about possible cost of the Ottawa-Gatineau tornado

Some houses had nothing left at all and lay flat on the ground, covering their vehicles.

Officials warned people not to re-enter their homes until they had been deemed safe as firefighters went door-to-door to determine whether structures were still sound. In Dunrobin, authorities said many buildings that had emerged from the tornado partially intact would likely have to be torn down.

Conrad informed people in the Ottawa area to brace for a multi-day power outage following what he described as a “cascading failure” of hydro resources.

WATCH: Drivers look on at apparent tornado, explosion in Gatineau

“Last night’s storm was devastating to our electrical infrastructure, arguably as bad if not worse than the ice storm in 1998,” Conrad told reporters.

He said there were 200 separate outages across the Hydro Ottawa network and 147,000 customers without power. Hydro Ottawa only serves some of the people left without power because of the tornado.

To put it into perspective, Conrad said the electrical load that comes into Ottawa on any given day this time of year is about 1,000 megawatts. The storm took away about 400 megawatts from the supply.

READ MORE: Thousands without power, several injured after tornado rips through Ottawa-Gatineau region

“That’s what we’re working with – that’s why we are dark,” he said, listing off communities around the western, southern and some central parts of Ottawa.

Environment Canada confirmed Saturday that indeed a tornado struck the capital region. Meterologist Simon Legault said there was evidence of powerful winds between 180 and 220 kilometres per hour, which would correspond with an EF2 category tornado.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he would be visiting the Ottawa area on Sunday.

WATCH: Rarity of tornadoes in Canada in September

“We’re going to do whatever it takes to help them get back on their feet, Ford told a crowd gathered Saturday night for his annual Ford Fest barbecue in Vaughan, Ont.

“Tonight I want to let the people of Ottawa know that we’re all thinking of you,” said Ford, who also thanked first responders and hydro crews. “We want you to know that the entire province stands with you and is praying for you tonight.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter that he had spoken to the mayors of Ottawa and Gatineau and offered federal help with the storm recovery.

READ MORE: Sask. records second highest tornado count in over a decade

In Gatineau, leaders of major political parties took a pause from the province’s ongoing election campaign to visit areas walloped by the tornado.

Setting aside their political differences, Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard and Parti Quebecois Leader Jean-Francois Lisee visited one of the most devastated parts of Gatineau together. Coalition Avenir Quebec Leader Francois Legault and Manon Masse, a co-spokesperson for Quebec solidaire, were scheduled to arrive in the area later Saturday.

“It’s so surprising and terrible to see the disaster the way it struck the homes,” said Couillard, as he toured Pontiac, Que.

WATCH: Drone surveys damage from tornado that touched down in Dunrobin

Couillard added he was moved when he heard a story about a man in the community who had built his house with his own hands.

Those with power were stepping up Saturday to help strangers with a hot meal, an outlet to charge their phone or a shower.

Shawna Tregunna tweeted a photo of pancakes saying she was cooking up hot meals all day.

WATCH: Woman left in shock after tornado appears to pass over car in Quebec

“Come shower, eat, charge your devices, I don’t need to know you, you don’t need to ask, show up (bring Tupperware and I’ll fill it up) and you will be welcome,” Tregunna tweeted along with her address.

She also offered to deliver food.

Another Ottawa resident, Erin Blaskie, tweeted out a photo of a pot of chili saying anyone without a hot meal could message her for her address.

In Kanata North, Karen Woods opened up her home to people who needed a shower or their batteries recharged.

On Saturday night, Ontario announced it was activating the province’s Disaster Recovery Assistance program in areas affected by the storm.

Under the program, affected individuals, small businesses and not-for-profit organizations that have experienced property damage or loss as a result of the storm may be eligible to receive help with emergency and recovery expenses.

“I want to assure the residents of Ottawa that our government is working closely with our municipal partners to activate the province’s Disaster Recovery Assistance program where it will be needed,” Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark said in a release.</s>OTTAWA -- A tornado damaged cars in Gatineau, Que., and houses in a community west of Ottawa on Friday afternoon as much of southern Ontario saw severe thunderstorms and high wind gusts, Environment Canada said.

Peter Kimbell, a meteorologist with the national weather agency, said the tornado overturned cars on Highway 50 in Gatineau and caused extensive damage to houses in Dunrobin, Ont.

Fire trucks lined streets in Gatineau, where debris and downed trees covered roads. Massive billboards were also overturned near the Sabourin arena.

Kimbell said tornado warnings were still in effect in the Ontario communities of Prescott and Russell. A line of thunderstorms running from west of Ottawa and into Gatineau were expected to continue for several hours, he added.

"The worst, I think, is over, but there is the potential for more," Kimbell said of the Ottawa region.

Ottawa resident Glenn Johnson said he and his partner were in their kitchen just after 5:30 p.m. when the storm blew out their windows.

"We were trying to get down in the basement ... and glass started flying," said Johnson, who lives in Nepean. "My partner got her foot cut and I got hit with flying glass as we were trying to get the dogs and cat and everything down in the basement."

He said the roof of his neighbour's house was torn off and the second storey of another house was gone by the time the intense system passed.

"You can't even get down the street because there are so many giant trees that had been taken down," Johnson said. "My backyard just looks like a junk yard right now."

He said he has gone door to door to check on neighbours. No major injuries have been reported.

"There had been kids in the park right behind our place up until about 15 minutes before this happened and there was a big tree that went down in the park where the kids' playground is," Johnson said. "It could have been much, much worse."

Meanwhile, Ottawa Hydro said there were more than 85,000 power outages in the city because of the storm.

"There is significant damage to the grid and all crews are out assessing damage and will establish a priority restoration," the utility company said in a tweet.

The Greater Toronto Area saw thunderstorms and wind gusts of up to 80 kilometres per hour, also leaving thousands without power.

Hydro Toronto said on Twitter that more than 5,000 customers were without power and restoration efforts were expected to last into Saturday.

"We have all available crews out in the field," Toronto Hydro said. "They're working in dangerous conditions and, at times, are not able to start repairs until the wind weakens."

Alectra Utilities, which covers most of the GTA, said more than 6,000 residents were without power.
A tornado hits near Dunrobin, Ontario then goes through Ottawa, Canada. 25 people are injured and many houses are destroyed.