Eastern Ontario braces for Sandy storm winds

Ontario's energy minister saidpower outages were already being reported in Ontario as early as Monday evening as the powerful storm Sandy approached landfall in the U.S.

Minister of Energy Chris Bentley said the province's energy agencies were working to restore power or infrastructure damage should there be disruptions overnight Monday.

U.S. states are already reporting outages in the tens of thousands.

People living in the Ottawa area can expect heavy winds and some rain overnight. The U.S. National Hurricane Center downgraded thestormto a post-tropical cyclone at 7 p.m. ET Monday.

Flights cancelled to and from Ottawa

At the Ottawa airport, more than 40 flights to and from the Northeastern U.S. were cancelled Monday.

No planes will be heading to that part of the United States for at least 48 hours, and some flights to cities such as Newark, New Jersey, and Boston, Massachusetts, were cancelled days ago.

Porter Air flights between Ottawa and the Toronto city airport have also been cancelled, and while Westjet carried on with a 5 p.m. flight to Toronto, it cancelled its 6 p.m. flight.

Airlines have said more Canadian flights could be cancelled as winds pick up.

Fifteen departures from Ottawa for the U.S. northwest scheduled for Tuesday morning have also been cancelled, though ticket agents advise travellers to check again tomorrow for the latest updates on arrival and departure listings for cancelled or delayed flights.

Wind warnings issued throughout Southern Ontario

Environment Canada issued wind warnings throughout Southern Ontario and along the St. Lawrence Seaway Monday.

In Ottawa, wind gusts between 40 km/h and 80 km/h are expected late Monday evening, with the temperature hovering around 13 C.

Tuesday is expected to bring mainly cloudy skies with a high of 16 C, with winds gusting from 40 km/h to 60 km/h in the morning before slowing down to 20 km/h to 40 km/h in the afternoon.

The Cornwall and Morrisburg areas are expecting strong winds Monday evening, gusting anywhere from 60 km/h to 100 km/h.

Winds of that strength can break tree limbs and knock over weak or shallow-rooted trees, Environment Canada said in a warning update, adding that some power outages are likely should any limbs or trees fall across power lines.