As hydro crews in southern Ontario continue to work around the clock to restore power to areas impacted by a crippling ice storm, officials in Toronto warned that a new blast of winter weather could cause more damage to power lines.
Environment Canada issued a special weather statement Thursday, forecasting 20 to 30 kilometre per hour winds that “may lead to some new sporadic power outages as ice and snow-laden limbs could snap onto power lines.”
Earlier Thursday, Boxing Day bargain hunters woke up to snowfall on the streets of Toronto and across the GTA. The wet weather added more pressure to already weighed down and vulnerable power systems.
During a news conference Thursday, Toronto Hydro CEO Anthony Haines said while crews were “making great progress” to restore power, the snowfall forced some feeders to lose power.
“With heavy (tree) limbs compromised by the ice, and now you’re getting snow landing on them so we have damage happening this morning,” Haines said. “The scope of the work continues to grow.”
Later Thursday, Haines it was very likely that more power outages would occur due to the weather.
Power utilities continue to restore electricity in homes and businesses across southern Ontario, Quebec and parts of the Maritimes.
In Quebec, approximately 7,000 customers remained without power, as did nearly 19,000 homes and businesses in New Brunswick.
Toronto Hydro said as of Thursday morning, power had been restored to about 82 per cent of customers across the city. Approximately 48,000 customers remained without power Thursday night.
Crews were focusing their efforts largely in the Scarborough area, where most of the outages remained.
Officials are urging residents with damage to their own home service line to hire qualified licensed electricians to do the repairs. Residents can check the Electrical Safety Authority’s website for more information.
At a Thursday afternoon press conference, Hydro One CEO Carmine Marcello said crews are working to restore power to customers in communities like Guelph, Orangeville, Bolton and Dundas.
Late Thursday, Hydro One tweeted that 8,847 customers remain without power.
Ontario Premier Kathleen said Emergency Management Ontario is coordinating in-person wellness checks for vulnerable people as the outages continue, with Ontario Provincial Police helping in Toronto with the door-to-door checks.
Wynne said the province was continuing to work at full capacity in order to fully restore power.
“All the required provincial resources are available and are being mobilized even without a formal declaration of an emergency,” Wynne told reporters.
At the height of the ice storm, over 600,000 customers in Ontario were without power.
Updates on power outages caused by the ice storm can be found on local utility websites or on the government of Ontario website.
On Thursday, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford thanked the public for donating non-perishable food for those staying in warming centres, saying the support “was overwhelming.”
“The good news is the number of people staying at the warming centres is going down,” he said. “At the highest it was 1,000, last night we were at 850 tonight we’ll probably get even lower than that,” he said.
But frustrations continue to mount, as thousands remain in the dark five days after the storm.
Ford said while his “heart bleeds” for those who remain without electricity, he said the municipality is doing the “best we can.”
“The lesson is to be thankful of the staff that we have working for the taxpayers of this great city,” he said.
Meanwhile, authorities continue to urge residents trying to stay warm not to use appliances such as generators or barbecues indoors.
A mother and son from Newcastle, 80 km east of Toronto, died Monday from carbon monoxide poisoning, after they tried to heat their home using a generator that was running in the garage.
Two adults and two children were taken to hospital Wednesday morning to be treated for carbon monoxide poisoning after reportedly burning coal in an east Toronto apartment.
Fire officials are also urging residents to take care when using other heating equipment, such as unattended candles, which were the likely cause of a large house fire Wednesday night. No one was injured.
Winter storms approach Atlantic Canada
As the cleanup continues, Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for parts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, as a messy mix of snow, rain and gusty winds is expected to hit several regions starting Thursday evening.
A snowfall warning is also in effect for parts of Newfoundland and Labrador, which could see up to 20 centimetres of the white stuff by Friday afternoon.
