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Hurricane Ontario: Thousands of people in Ottawa still without power

Thousands of people remain without power in the Ottawa area after severe storms hit parts of Ontario and Quebec more than a week ago.

Hydro Ottawa has managed to restore power to about 172,000 customers since the May 21 storm, system operations manager Joseph Muglia told CTV’s Your Morning, adding that about 8,000 other customers are still out. electricity.

“Our efforts only continue until today and will continue throughout today and tonight until they are all brought back in,” Muglia said Monday.

While he could not provide an exact time when customers can expect power to be restored, he said Hydro Ottawa is working to restore power to smaller groups of customers in some of the affected areas. heavier influence of the city.

Each situation is unique and most of the problems the team is facing involve large, mature trees on power lines, Muglia said.

However, he expects power to be returned to a “significant” number of customers in a day or so.

“You go into these areas, everything falls apart, there’s a lot of debris on top, and of course people are living there,” he said.

“They’ve demolished the front lawn, it’s full of stuff and they just want to clean it up, but the problem is it’s not safe until we can get there and make sure it’s safe before cleaning up. may begin.”

Some schools in the Ottawa area are also closed to face-to-face classes due to power outages.

As of May 26, 11 people have been confirmed dead in Ontario and Quebec from the storm, most from fallen trees.

Environment Canada described the storm as a hurricane, a rare type of storm wind associated with a thunderstorm line.

It developed near Sarnia, Ont., before moving northeast through the province and into Quebec, knocking down trees, downing power lines and damaging property.

The city of Peterborough, Ont., east of Toronto, declared a state of emergency on the day of the storm.

Speaking to CTV’s Your Morning on Monday, Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien said there continued to be light to moderate winds and “widows”, or damaged tree branches, were at risk.

“We’re still working on getting everyone’s hydroelectricity back up and running, and then the cleanup effort is where we have to work towards the next as soon as we can get through.” that,” she said.

Despite the challenges, Therrien has heard heartfelt stories from the community of free-to-eat restaurants – with some residents having to clean out their refrigerators after being without power for so long – and others who have Open doors so people can shower, cook, or charge their electronics.

She said city facilities are also open for bathing and tolls.

“And absolutely, the severity and intensity of the storm and the level of devastation we saw in Peterborough was really wild, and that’s one of these issues, it’s a big conversation. more about climate change and how we work to mitigate it,” said Therrien.


Featuring files from CTV News Ottawa Digital Multi-Skilled Journalist Josh Pringle and the Canadian Press

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