Updated: Mon Oct. 30 2006 11:58:06 AM

CTV.ca News Staff

Electricity is being restored after a wind storm that ripped through the province on Sunday left nearly 30,000 people without power in parts of Ontario, and caused damage to property and more power failures in Toronto.

Power was knocked out by high winds and precipitation in the Georgian Bay, Parry Sound, Bracebridge, Huntsville and North Bay-Nippissing areas.

Thousands more customers in Toronto's east end were also without electricity after fallen trees took out power lines.

Hydro One restored power to most customers outside the Toronto area on Sunday. But about 5,400 customers were still waiting for power to be restored on Monday.

Many of the people still waiting for the lights to come back on were reportedly in the Georgian Bay region.

Power utility spokesperson Al Manchee said they expected to have all affected areas back online by Monday evening. The company said fallen lines in densely forested areas have been hampering their efforts.

In Toronto, wind gusts reaching about 100 km/h were strong enough to knock down a partially constructed home in the city's west end. The three-storey townhouse being built on Morgan Avenue near Royal York Road collapsed at around 1:20 p.m.

"It sounded like a bomb went off," neighbour Ron Frenette, who watched the partially built house fall, told the Toronto Star.

No one was hurt in the incident, but members of the fire department used thermal imaging devices to make sure no one was trapped beneath the rubble.

A woman in her 40s was knocked unconscious by a falling tree branch in the Bayview and Eglinton Avenue East area on Sunday afternoon. Wind also blew down a glass sign from a building on Rogers Road at Keele Street, leaving a man in his 60s with minor injuries.

An entire live racing card had to be cancelled at the Woodbine racetrack due to the high winds.

Large parts of Scarborough lost electricity during the peak of Sunday's wind storm. Power failed from Ellesmere Road south to Lake Ontario between Bellamy and Scarborough Golf Club roads.

In the city's west end, power failed from a few blocks west of Jane Street to Runnymede Road, reaching just north of St. Clair Avenue West.

The storm generated high winds and snow over a wide area of North America. Electricity was knocked out for about 112,000 customers in the U.S., including 44,000 in Maine.

Heavy lake effect snow fell on New York State, blanketing communities such as Old Forge with 22.8 centimetres of the white stuff.

High winds also delayed flights up to two-and-a-half hours at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport, one of three airports that serve the New York City region.

Winds reaching 95 km/h in Quebec knocked out power for about 49,000 Hydro Quebec customers.

Atlantic Canada was also struck by high winds with about 4,000 people in New Brunswick experiencing power failures and ferry service between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland being delayed by 12 hours.

With files from The Canadian Press