Damage is estimated at upwards of $35,000 following some severe weather that rolled through Sarnia Wednesday.
Bluewater Power President and CEO Janice McMichael-Dennis said they had some lightning damage in the south end of the city.
"That knocked about 2,000 customers off for about an hour. Then we had three different cases of broken poles where poles were cut in half or on the ground. We also had three different cases of live power lines touching the ground, or hanging 12 to 24 inches above the ground. So quite a crazy night overall."
McMichael-Dennis said when you have live wires down, it adds an extra element of public safety and concern.
"Our crews work in this danger all of the time and we have to always put their safety first, so it just adds a whole extra element in. Live wires down, you normally don't see -- I mean, that's rare that a storm has hit hard enough for live wires down, that only happens here and there, and certainly to have three cases of live wires down just puts a whole different perspective on it."
McMichael-Dennis said it was about 11 p.m. when the 15 to 20 crewmembers reconnected.
She believes this was Bluewater Power's biggest weather event of the year so far.
"This certainly, in my recollection for 2021, takes the event of the year award so far. But normally you do have a storm like this every year, every couple of years -- this one just came in really quick."
Environment Canada issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the region at around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, and upgraded it to a warning at around 4 p.m.
The warning was lifted for Sarnia-Petrolia and Western Lambton county at around 5:30 p.m., and ended for the rest of Lambton county at around 6 p.m.
