Another August storm floods Ottawa's west end as power cuts affect thousands

Another severe thunderstorm smashed through Ottawa on Wednesday night and early Thursday, flooding homes across the west end and cutting power to around 8,000 customers as of Thursday morning.

The hardest-hit areas—Knoxdale-Merivale and College wards—were also devastated during the July 1 storm, raising questions about infrastructure resilience in those neighborhoods. Coun. Sean Devine posted photos of downed trees, ponding, and damaged hydro infrastructure on social media, saying he'd received at least one report of basement flooding.

Environment Canada recorded 21.9 millimetres of rain at the airport Wednesday, bringing August's total to 104.8 mm—well above the monthly average of 79 mm. Maximum wind gusts reached 107 km/h, significantly higher than the 71 km/h recorded during the July 1 derecho.

Hydro Ottawa crews worked through Thursday assessing damage in areas difficult to access due to heavy vegetation. The utility warned residents to stay at least 10 metres away from downed power lines and objects they may be touching, which could be electrified. To report outages, residents can use the Hydro Ottawa online tool, mobile app, text "OUT" to PWROUT (797688), or call the 24/7 outage line at (613) 738-0188.

Across the river, Hydro Quebec reported over 8,000 customers without power in the Outaouais region, with more than 7,000 in the Aylmer sector. Environment Canada issued a rare yellow warning for heavy fog Thursday morning, though it was cancelled later without incident.