Powerful winds, rain damage Woodstock buildings

A severe thunderstorm swept through New Brunswick on Wednesday night and caused significant damage to buildings in western New Brunswick.

Ken Harding, the chief administrative officer in Woodstock, said the powerful winds tore the roof off a local business called the Pantry Gift Shop.

The Woodstock Civic Centre was damaged during the rain and wind storm on Wednesday. (Facebook)

The storm downed trees and at the peak of the storm, 7,000 NB Power customers were without electricity. As of 8:53 a.m. on Thursday, there were 4,420 customers without power in the Woodstock area, according to NB Power.

Harding said the worst damage was to the Carleton Civic Centre.

"Part of the roof has blown off the centre, the area covering the pool," Harding said.

Two women in Fredericton try to get out of a rain storm that hit on Wednesday afternoon. (CBC)

"The membrane roof has disappeared. The roofing structure and underlayment is still intact but the membrane part of the roof is gone. So that's a pretty big loss."

Construction began last week to expand the civic centre.

Harding said there were no reports of injuries.

Memorial service halted

The rain storm hit Fredericton during a memorial service for the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks on Wednesday. The event had to be moved inside because of the storm.

Lt.-Gov. Graydon Nicholas leaves a memorial service in Fredericton that was being held for firefighters who died in the 9/11 attacks in New York. (CBC)

The rains also caused a rare cancellation for the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival. 

Wednesday night's free opening concert in Officer's Square had to be halted after just one number from the St. Thomas University jazz band. 

Harvest organizers watching the forecast were concerned the downpour would be too much for the tent and equipment to handle. 

The audience was given free admittance to another concert to make up for the missed concert.

The aftermath of the storm is still being felt in Fredericton as well. NB Power was reporting 539 power outages in Fredericton on Thursday morning. In total, 5,051 outages were reported in the province Thursday morning.

Classes at Fredericton’s Devon Middle School have been cancelled on Thursday because of the power outage.