The storms that blew into southern Ontario on Thursday set a new primetime record for CP24, which reached 1.2 million viewers during its coverage from 7-11:30 p.m., according to BBM Nielsen. (All numbers 2+)

The CTV-owned channel says the ratings for its broadcast, anchored by Omar Sachedina, were up 150% over an average summer weeknight, making it the most-watched primetime event in the channel’s history.

Residents in the Toronto suburb of Vaughn were hardest hit by severe thunderstorms and several tornadoes that touched down during the dinner hour, killing a young boy and severely damaging over 600 homes.

A spokesperson for the Toronto channel tells Playback Daily the ‘impressive’ ratings were unexpected because of widespread power outages in southern Ontario.

The storms also boosted viewer video submissions and web traffic, according to CP24, noting that it had over a million page views and more than a thousand picture and video submissions, as audiences continued to track the storm.

The storms came almost exactly a year after Toronto was rocked by massive explosions at propane facility — an event which grabbed over two million viewers despite occurring early on a Sunday morning. Coverage of that disaster remains the largest audience reach in the channel’s history.