Photo Essay

Photos From the Big Storm

A collection of photos from the storm and the aftermath on Saturday morning.

By Ryan McGreal
Published July 21, 2013

Hamilton was walloped by a series of severe thunderstorms and high winds on Friday night. For several hours the city was under a tornado watch.

Here is a collection of photos from the storm and the aftermath on Saturday morning.

Dark clouds looming over 417 Aberdeen Avenue.
Dark clouds looming over 417 Aberdeen Avenue.

Angry, ominous clouds gathered over the city on Friday evening.
Angry, ominous clouds gathered over the city on Friday evening.

Between storm lashings, the city was treated to a spectacular sunset.
Between storm lashings, the city was treated to a spectacular sunset.

On Saturday morning, large branches and whole trees were down all over Hamilton. Several streets were closed all day, and power lines were down in several areas.

Southwest Hamilton was one of the areas to take the brunt of the high winds.
Southwest Hamilton was one of the areas to take the brunt of the high winds.

Tree down on Aberdeen near Queen.
Tree down on Aberdeen near Queen.

Branches down at Mapleside Park.
Branches down at Mapleside Park.

Mapleside was blocked by a fallen tree.
Mapleside was blocked by a fallen tree.

Queen near Hess.
Queen near Hess.

Herkimer near James.
Herkimer near James.

Caroline near Charlton.
Caroline near Charlton.

Caroline near Herkimer.
Caroline near Herkimer.

Police lines blocked several spots where live wires hung down.
Police lines blocked several spots where live wires hung down.

A live wire hung down at Homewood and Kent.
A live wire hung down at Homewood and Kent.

The Mountain was mostly spared the high winds, but a big branch blocked Concession just east of Upper Wellington.
The Mountain was mostly spared the high winds, but a big branch blocked Concession just east of Upper Wellington.

Ryan McGreal, the editor of Raise the Hammer, lives in Hamilton with his family and works as a programmer, writer and consultant. Ryan volunteers with Hamilton Light Rail, a citizen group dedicated to bringing light rail transit to Hamilton. Ryan wrote a city affairs column in Hamilton Magazine, and several of his articles have been published in the Hamilton Spectator. His articles have also been published in The Walrus, HuffPost and Behind the Numbers. He maintains a personal website, has been known to share passing thoughts on Twitter and Facebook, and posts the occasional cat photo on Instagram.

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By Core-b (registered) | Posted July 21, 2013 at 10:03:51

Similar situations in South Central and east too. It was a doozie. 3500 east of Victoria are expected to be in the dark until Sunday night. I'm surprised that the Mountain was not worse off. Once the winds subsided we watched the "fireworks" display and almost all of it looked like it was up on the shelf. Thankfully no tornados.

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By ScreamingViking (registered) | Posted July 21, 2013 at 12:49:28

The lightning over Hamilton and west Burlington was incredible - like strobe lights, with some awesome forks. But watching the storm fronts roll through the area was quite something as well.

While the tree and property damage is big, we're lucky (according to reports so far) that nobody was seriously hurt in these storms.

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By movedtohamilton (registered) | Posted July 21, 2013 at 16:35:43

Horizontal rain started around 6:00pm Friday, with wave after wave of wind and rain. We lost power around 4:00am Saturday (downtown east'ish). We got power restored around 8:00 Sunday morning, although Horizon estimated a midnight restore.

Many tree branches were on the streets, blocking traffic.

Big h/t to Horizon crews. They worked their a$$es off and got help from surrounding utilities.

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By jimh (anonymous) | Posted July 21, 2013 at 17:14:35

Reports say east downtown was hit harder than sw downtown.

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By Plan Ahead (anonymous) | Posted July 22, 2013 at 00:25:37

We have to prepare for the future. Plant a tree for tomorrow whether you lost one to the storm or not.

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