As the early breaths of Superstorm Sandy washed over Toronto early Monday night, the storm’s first life was taken after a woman was struck and killed by falling debris in the city’s west end.

Toronto police said the woman, believed to be in her 30s, was found with “obvious head trauma” after 7 p.m. near the base of a Staples store sign mounted on a pole that towered over the parking lot off Keele St., just south of St. Clair Ave. W.

The woman, who police had not yet identified, was pronounced dead at the scene.

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One panel of the large, red illuminated sign bearing the company’s logo became dislodged by the wind and had since blown away, said Sgt. Stella Karras at the scene.

A second panel had also come loose, blowing precariously toward the sky before banging back down as rain pummeled the nearly empty parking lot.

“It is a little treacherous with the rain and the wind,” Karras said.

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Police officers were still determining how to remove the second panel in the downpour while an investigation continued. Karras said there appeared to have been no witnesses to the incident.

It was the first of many challenges anticipated for the city as wind and rain picked up across the GTA Monday and meteorologists predicting the brunt of the storm to hit by Tuesday morning with 30 to 50 millimetres of rain by day’s end.

At a news conference Monday, city officials warned that Superstorm Sandy would test Toronto’s ability to deal with an unprecedented storm.

Despite previous experience with flooding and power outages, city manager Joe Pennachetti said it’s “the length and scope of this storm that is different.”

Blair Peberdy, a vice-president with Toronto Hydro, said he has never seen anything like it before.

“Certainly not in my career if the forecasts are what they say they are. I’ve been with Toronto Hydro for 25, 30 years. So I don’t think we’ve seen one come through as strong as this one,” he said.

As of Monday evening, Toronto Hydro spokeswoman Jennifer Link said at least 6,000 customers had lost power.

The company predicted many more, some tens of thousands, could experience outages between a couple of hours and a number of days.

“We’re sending crews out to assess and repair the damage,” Link said. “But if it gets too dangerous, we’ll have to pull out the crews.”

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Link said due to an increase in calls and the possibly dangerous weather, some customers may still be without power into the afternoon Tuesday.

Those power outages saw Toronto firefighters responding to numerous elevators rescue calls Monday.

“There’s a strong trend of wires down and elevator rescues tonight,” said Toronto Fire spokesman Capt. David Eckerman.

While some parts of the city — 32 areas including North York, Rexdale, Scarborough and the Beach — are prone to “chronic” basement flooring during intense storms, the duration of Superstorm Sandy made city officials confident the infrastructure could handle the extra load.

“We do expect heavy rainfall but it’s spread out over a number of hours, so the sewer system should be able to keep up with it,” said Lou Di Gironimo, general manager of Toronto Water. “The problem is if the leaves get into the catch basin and start plugging up some of the storm sewers, you may see localized flooding.”

Several pockets are also at risk of road flooding. The Bayview extension and Hoggs Hollow are the most likely to have a problem. City crews were working in the area to ensure drainage systems are clear.

Community Safety Minister Madeleine Meilleur said Emergency Management Ontario would assist any municipalities unable to handle the fallout from the storm.

Meilleur added that the Red Cross and responders from Quebec and Manitoba may be able to assist if Ontario needs extra help.

Meanwhile ORNGE air ambulances were grounded as of 2 p.m. Monday because of the strong winds.

With files from Robyn Doolittle, Alex Consiglio and Touria Izri