Power restored to thousands, streets reopened after storm hit Edmonton Friday

Thousands of Edmonton households have power again and two thoroughfares have reopened, as the city recovers from a severe thunderstorm that passed through Friday evening.

Power restored to thousands, streets reopened after storm hit Edmonton Friday More than 13,000 Epcor customers lost power Friday evening, utility says Thousands of Edmonton households have power again and two thoroughfares have reopened, as the city recovers from a severe thunderstorm that passed through Friday evening. Environment Canada's historical weather radar shows the storm reached the city around 7:30 p.m., hitting the city's west and north sides hardest. Hourly weather data shows 30 millimetres of rain between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. in the Blatchford area, in central Edmonton on the north side.

It reportedly downed trees, caused flooding, forced road closures and cut power. More than 13,000 customers throughout the city lost electricity due to the storm, an Epcor spokesperson told CBC News Saturday morning. Crews worked overnight to restore power as quickly as possible, the spokesperson said.

The company's outage map, as of 11:30 a.m., shows just one outage left in the west end, affecting almost 115 customers. The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) issued an advisory Friday night, stating flooding forced Yellowhead Trail to close from 66th Street to 121st Street, and downed trees shut down 97th Street to southbound traffic from 111th Avenue to 118th Avenue. Both of those roads are now open, an EPS spokesperson told CBC News just before 11:45 a.m. Saturday.

The storm arrived after Environment Canada issued a few tornado and thunderstorm warnings west of the city earlier that day. The weather agency has issued several tornado warnings throughout Alberta this week — and a tornado actually touched down Wednesday in Dillberry Lake Provincial Park, in eastern Alberta, sending three people to hospital.