Ice Storm 2013: Hundreds Of Thousands Still Without Power

By Diana Mehta,-12/23/2013

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

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 cordon off 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 than s to a combination of warm air from Te!as colliding with cold air over Canada to create a drawn out period of free"ing rain. "#e had free"ing 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 free"ing rain was e!pected to peter out by Tuesday, Phillips warned that the ice it brought would remain as temperatures stayed below free"ing. "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 wor ing to restore power to thousands of homes had to

deal with the possibility that ice,laden tree limbs could continue to splinter, snapping power lines.

Crews were wor ing 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 free"er and fridge to the garage to eep it cold. I had /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 . &a ing 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, prioriti"ing 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 brea ing behind us.'' The last people to get their lights bac on will li ely 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 emphasi"ed &onday that Canada's largest city was not in a state of emergency. "If the weather and the winds pic ed up last night and it was worse, then we would have had to as 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 &ar ham, 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 #al erton, 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 wor ers 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 are wor ing 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

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 wor ed to fi! electricity lines and other e=uipment damaged by the storm. .n icy mi! of rain and free"ing rain played havoc with the electricity grid across the &aritimes on &onday as ice,laden 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 build,up from the rain had brought a number of tree branches down onto electrical lines, complicating wor to restore power, while slippery roads were ma ing it difficult for truc s to even get to problem areas. #ith files from &ichael &acDonald in 0alifa!