Alarms triggered as storm rips through city

A violent storm left toppled trees, downed hydro lines and patches of flooding throughout the Hamilton area last night.

The storm, which included a tornado warning from Environment Canada, roared through for about 30 minutes. It rolled in just before 7 p.m.

The storm left Hamilton police and firefighters hopping as alarms were set off at half a dozen locations, including McMaster University.

The storm was part of a provincial weather front that killed one person in the Town of Durham and dropped suspected tornadoes into three communities: Durham, Vaughan and Newmarket.

Joanne Stephen of Ancaster was out back of her Alma Lane home when lightning struck a tree near her house, bringing it down on hydro wires.