Prime Minister Doug Ford said Thursday that he plans to visit some areas affected by prolonged energy cuts since a powerful ice storm hit the center and northern Ontario over the weekend.
More than 190,000 houses and businesses were still in the dark noon on Thursday, showed a hydroelectric interruption map, after the storm caused serious damage to cities such as Orillia and Peterborough.
Another storm system that moved through Ontario parts on Wednesday and during the night caused additional dispersed interruptions and slowed the restoration efforts, said the public services company.
Hydro One said that energy has been restored for more than 83 percent of almost one million affected customers, but “there is still a lot of work ahead” until everyone recovers their electricity.
Hundreds of thousands of Ontario inhabitants are still unimportant after an ice storm swept the province during the weekend. Clara Pasieka of CBC talks to the residents in Peterborough, ontarium, on how they are co -dealing.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Ford told the journalists in Queen’s Park on Thursday morning. “We are working completely again, we have the emergency management teams, the Ontario Corps, the heating centers, the food brought.”
Ford’s office said he would visit the Storm Command Center in Orillia on Friday.
He said that Quebec and Saskatchewan governments have sent hydroelectric crews to help, and also thanked non -governmental organizations, including GlobalMedic and Team Rubicon, for providing supplies and cutting trees.
Hydro One said that the storm is the most severe climate event that the utility has faced since the 1998 ice storm.
He said that 3,800 workers, contractors and others from Hydro One are working to restore power to the most affected areas and customers “most” are expected to be again online for the weekend.
“For remote areas, including customers who can only reach the water, the restoration can take longer,” said the public services company in a statement. “Access to the road remains a challenge in the most affected areas, along with the safety concerns of the branches and the limbs of the low trees.”
Ford said that some people in those affected areas do not have access to information and online resources.
“When someone’s internet is inactive and televisions are low, we have to find a new mechanism to communicate because it is very difficult to communicate when people do not have the ability to watch television,” he said.
Police asking for public patience with storm cleaning
The provincial police have been asking non -local ones to remain away from the affected areas until storm cleaning is under control and urging residents to be patients as energy cuts persist.
OPP said Thursday that a hydroelectric worker in the Peterborough area was threatened by a driver annoyed by the cuts.
“Peterborough County OPP understands that residents of the area who still experience power cuts feel frustrated and annoying, but remind people of threats can be considered a criminal offense and will not be tolerated,” police said in a press release.
Some parts of the south of Ontario were beaten by another round of wild spring weather, with thunderstorms that threw up to 75 millimeters of rain in parts of the Metropolitan Area of Toronto in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Wednesday’s rain storm led some road closures through the GTA due to floods. Clara Pasieka of CBC has the latest updates.
The Provincial Police asked drivers to use caution since floods on the roads were reported throughout the Toronto Metropolitan Area, and Peel Region Police said some roads near the 407 highway in Brampton and Mississauga were closed due to floods.
The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority was also warning the public about the possible localized pond and the increase in water levels due to rain, as well as the melting of snow and ice.
Much of Quebec was under a frozen rain warning on Thursday, with the possibility of two to four millimeters of possible ice accumulation. More east, in the Baie-Comeau area, a snowfall warning was ineffective, with up to 20 centimeters of the expected white things.
Hydro-Quebec reported that approximately 3,600 customers were without energy on Thursday morning.
