Storm tears boats away from Port Bruce

Two boat slips upstream along Catfish Creek in Port Bruce needed repairs after a series of powerful thunderstorms came through the region overnight on Friday, Sept. 5. Conflicting reports were received about how many boats had broken away from their docks along the creek and had to be retrieved from either off of the cliffs east of Port Bruce, farther into Lake Erie or from the beach. While some Port Bruce permanent and seasonal residents said up to or more than a dozen boats had been swept out into the lake, others said the number was closer to three or five. Eye witnesses said neither the Ontario Provincial Police nor Malahide firefighters had helped in the boat retrieval efforts up to lunch time on Sunday, Sept. 7.