More than 150,000 people in Ontario were left without electricity on Tuesday after a powerful storm destroyed the province, knocked down power lines and trees, forced several schools to close and left significant damage.
The city of Uxbridge, east of Toronto, has declared a local state of emergency due to storm damage, with some buildings turned into rubble and streets blocked by uprooted trees, downed power lines and broken telephone poles.
“It really was non-stop,” said Uxbridge, Ont. Mayor Dave Barton: “We had hydro crews on the ground 24 hours a day to reconnect us. We currently have about half the city connected to the power supply.
“We had big communication problems … when you lose power, you lose a cell, you lose data.”
The trees “explode” in the storm
Uxbridge resident Jim Rave said he was not particularly concerned when he received an emergency warning from Environment Canada on Saturday afternoon.
“I went inside, closed all the windows … It was a warning of a thunderstorm, not a tornado,” he said.
WATCH The home of an Uxbridge resident devastated by the storm:
Uxbridge, Ont., Lends a hand to clean up after a punitive storm
CBC’s Katie Nicholson visited a historic home in Uxbridge, Ont., Bruised in Saturday’s storm. She found the owner, Doug Macmillan, grateful to the community and got the story of his beautiful home.
Rave went to watch the storm from his back porch and began filming when it hit, but quickly realized it wasn’t just a medium storm.
“Within seconds, I headed for cover,” Rave said. “The neighbors’ trees … seemed to explode.
Rave’s back window was broken and an 18-foot maple tree in his yard was torn down.
“At first I thought maybe it was just my tree that fell and I went outside to check on the neighbors and it was crazy here because all the power lines were down … all the trees were on the road,” Rave said.
“I have never been involved in something so strong and I have never had a feeling [like] I have to move fast or I will get hurt or worse. “
It may be days before some have power
At least 10 people in Ontario have died as a result of Saturday’s storm, which generated winds of up to 132 km / h.
As of Tuesday morning, crews have restored power to nearly 480,000 people. However, about 150,000 are without electricity, said a spokesman for Hydro One, Ontario’s largest electricity service provider.
The trees, literally uprooted in the Uxbridge heritage area, speak of the pure force of the winds. pic.twitter.com/KlXwV2D7xa
– @KatieNicholson
In Uxbridge, about 27,000 people still have no electricity, along with 31,000 in Peterborough and 9,000 in Newmarket.
“There is still a lot of work to be done in this area to get everyone’s power back,” said Titian Bachega Rosa of Hydro One.
“We keep telling customers: Depending on where you are and the severity of the damage that affects you, it may be several days before you have power.
Bachega Rosa said the “severe and devastating” damage seen in the province was concentrated in the pockets of central and eastern Ontario. The challenge for the crews remains to clean up the debris before power can be restored.
Meanwhile, the number of hydro pillars reported to be broken has risen significantly, with 1,400 broken pillars seen by Tuesday morning, up from 800 the day before, according to Hydro One.
Toronto Hydro said crews dealt with 110,000 outages at peak levels on Saturday and have since restored power to more than 98 percent of customers. Approximately 1,700 Toronto residents were left without electricity by Tuesday.
“We are responding to a large number of localized outages [and] “I see a lot of damage caused by fallen trees,” the utility said in a tweet.
The crews continued to work at night & have already restored power to over 98% of our customers. We respond to a large number of localized interruptions & seeing a lot of damage caused by fallen trees.
– @ TorontoHydro
As of early Tuesday morning, Hydro Ottawa said about 74,000 customers were still without electricity.
Hydro CEO Ottawa said on Monday that their distribution system had been “crushed”, noting that the 187 pillars removed during the storm not only exceeded the number the city has traditionally set for a year, but also exceeds the number of tornadoes knocked down during the ice storm in 1998 and 2018.
Lack of power prompted the Ottawa-Carlton School Board to close all schools and childcare centers on Tuesday due to continuing safety concerns caused by the storm, with a statement to parents saying about half of their schools were without electricity.
Schools in the Durham, Toronto area have been forced to close
Several schools in the Durham and Toronto region were also forced to close to students and staff on Tuesday due to power outages.
Durham County School Board (DDSB) says seven schools will not be open: Uxbridge High School, Uxbridge Public School, Joseph Gould Public School in Uxbridge, Goodwood Public School in Uxbridge, Lincoln Avenue Public School in Ajax, EA Fairman Public School at Whitby and Valley View Public School in Pickering.
There will be no virtual training for students in these schools, as many students may still be without power, the school board said.
“The decision to close these schools was taken to protect the health and safety of students, parents / guardians and staff, as electricity is needed for the safe operation of the school,” a board statement said Monday.
A tree shatters a house and deck near Toronto’s Little Portugal neighborhood during Saturday’s storm. (CBC)
The school board says it expects all schools to open on Wednesday.
“School overseers and DDSB service providers will clear fallen trees, broken branches and debris in schoolyards. There may be some changes in rest and lunch time based on this impact, “said DDSB.
The Toronto School Board said AY Jackson High School was also closed Tuesday due to a power outage. Students are expected to participate in asynchronous learning for the day.
Many schools in the Peterborough, Cavarta Lakes and Northumberland regions also closed on Tuesday.
ALL SCHOOLS in the city / county of Peterborough, plus Enniskilen, Hastings, North Hope, Percy Centennial, Plainville & amp; Roseneath Centennial Public Schools closed tomorrow (May 24th) due to a storm this weekend. There will be no virtual or distance learning. https://t.co/2HAht9Wulf
– @ kprschools
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