8/13/2019 Ice Storm 2013 Hundreds of Thousands Still Without Power

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Ice Storm 2013: Hundreds Of Thousands Still Without Power

By Diana Mehta,-12/23/2013 

TORONTO  ! nast" ice storm that left hundreds of thousands without #ower inOntario and $ue%ec trac&ed throu'h the (aritimes on (onda" as authorities wor&edfranticall" to clear treestrewn roadwa"s) restore downed h"dro lines and 'et strandedtra*ellers to their destinations+

H"dro com#anies in the ,reater Toronto !rea) which a##eared to %e the hardest hit %"the weather s"stem) warned some residents to %race for the #ossi%ilit" of %ein' without#ower until -o.in' /a" or later+

Some nei'h%ourhoods resem%led crime scenes with "ellow #olice ta#e used to cordonoff areas where electric wires or lar'e trees had come crashin' down o*er the wee&end+Sidewal&s around some hi'h rise %uildin's were also closed off due to the ris& of fallin'ice+

(eanwhile) tra*ellers tr"in' to 'et home for the holida"s continued to face dela"s and

cancellations on airlines and trains+

Stor" continues %elow slideshow  

"It was a mighty blow,'' senior climatologist David Phillips told The Canadian Press. "It came

at a really difficult time for people travelling and doing last minute shopping.''

The weather agency said the system had turned particularly vicious thans to a combination of

warm air from Te!as colliding with cold air over Canada to create a drawn out period of

freeing rain.

"#e had freeing rain from south of $ondon, all the way through to %ttawa and &ontreal and

southern uebec and now today to central and southern new (runswic, all of P.).I. and most

of *ova +cotia,'' said Phillips."The geographical reach of this nasty, nasty storm is really affecting millions of Canadians in

)astern Canada.''

#hile the freeing rain was e!pected to peter out by Tuesday, Phillips warned that the ice it

 brought would remain as temperatures stayed below freeing.

"There's no natural melting going on,'' he said. "It's going to be human effort and endeavour

that will get rid of the sheath of ice that's covering )astern Canada.''

The situation meant utility companies woring to restore power to thousands of homes had to

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deal with the possibility that iceladen tree limbs could continue to splinter, snapping power

lines.

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Crews were woring around the cloc to get the lights bac on in cities and towns across%ntario, uebec and *ew (runswic, but warned there was a possibility not everyone would

 be reconnected by Christmas Day.

-elly &athews was among those bracing for that scenario.

"I'm hosting Christmas this year, starting tomorrow all of my family is arriving,'' said the

urora, %nt., resident who lost power early on +unday morning.

"I've been running everything down from my freeer and fridge to the garage to eep it cold. Ihad /ust done all of my food shopping.''

#hile &athews hoped her power would be bac on by #ednesday, she planned to move the

holiday meal to her parents home in Thornhill, %nt., where the lights are still on, if she

remained in the dar.

&aing such alternative arrangements was being encouraged by utility companies on &onday.

"The prudent thing now is to plan for the worst and hope for the best,'' said Toronto 0ydro

C)% nthony 0aines, whose utility had some 123,444 customers without power &onday

afternoon, down from more than 544,444 at the pea of the outage.

"t this point we simply don't now the wor that we have ahead of us, so it would be

irresponsible for us to say '#ell, by Christmas morning you will all be bac.'''0aines said there were some communities that crews hadn't been able to get into yet as they

triaged the power outage situation, prioritiing hospitals, water treatment plants and 66feeders''

which serviced thousands of customers.

0e did suggest, however, that recovery efforts appeared to be turning a corner.

"I feel that we're now winning the war, we're able to restore more than is breaing behind us.''

The last people to get their lights bac on will liely be those in homes in residential areas

where crews are only able to restore power to one house at a time, said 0aines.

&eanwhile, the mayor of Toronto emphasied &onday that Canada's largest city was not in a

state of emergency.

"If the weather and the winds piced up last night and it was worse, then we would have had toas the province for some help,'' said 7ob 8ord. "%bviously we're not even close to that

situation.''

lthough Toronto 0ydro had been operating under its own state of emergency due to

widespread power outages 8ord said he felt he had made the right call.

"#eather changes...it's hard to predict,'' he said. "nd you don't want to cry wolf.''

)lsewhere in %ntario, Power +tream, which serves &arham, 7ichmond 0ill and 9aughan

among other communities, reported 1:,544 customers were still down.

&eanwhile, 0ydro %ne, which serves 1.5 million customers in %ntario communities that

include ;uelph, Peterborough and #alerton, said about :3,444 customers were still without

 power in smaller towns and rural areas. +ome 1:4,444 were in the dar at the height of the

storm.

0ydro %ne cancelled vacations for about 544 employees and had about 244 worers out trying

to reconnect downed lines. It had also called in crews from other parts of %ntario.

"This is a massive effort. great deal of wor is going on around the cloc. )mployees areworing 1: hour days in very dangerous conditions,'' said 0ydro %ne C)% Carmine &arcello.

"#e've been able, given our provincial scope, to move crews from as far away as Thunder (ay

and +udbury in to help out.''

&arcello added that the situation remained precarious for wor crews because of the heavy ice

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 buildup on trees, with a plunge in temperatures coming &onday night.The utility's helicopters were unable to get into some regions because of low cloud and hadn't

yet assessed all the damage.

In uebec, nearly <3,444 customers remained without power, largely in the province's )astern

Townships as technicians wored to fi! electricity lines and other e=uipment damaged by the

storm.

n icy mi! of rain and freeing rain played havoc with the electricity grid across the &aritimeson &onday as iceladen trees fell on power lines, leaving tens of thousands in the dar in

southern *ew (runswic and northern *ova +cotia.

t one point, more than <<,444 residents and businesses were without power in southern *ew

(runswic. The hardest hit communities were 7othesay and +t. +tephen, where more than

54,444 were dealing with outages by the early evening.

 *( Power said the resulting ice buildup from the rain had brought a number of tree branches

down onto electrical lines, complicating wor to restore power, while slippery roads were

maing it difficult for trucs to even get to problem areas.

#ith files from &ichael &acDonald in 0alifa!