As temperatures dropped overnight, there are about 9,000 homes without power in the Huntsville region (including Lake of Bays) and approximately 8,000 homes without power in the Bracebridge area this morning.
Hydro One has called in reinforcements but the biggest issue is access, explained Hydro One spokesperson Tiziana Baccega Rosa. She said road closures and roads that have not been plowed are making it impossible for Hydro One crews to get in. “We can’t actually get to people.”
She said as roads are plowed and access becomes available, power restoration will become easier. “This isn’t about resources. We’ve got every available resource and we continue to, as the areas get cleaned up, send resources over to Central [region]. We’ve had people staging in Barrie last night overnight so that the minute we can get in, they are there,” she said.
Municipal plows are working around the clock.
“Our crews have been absolutely amazing, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for continuing to work through these challenging and difficult conditions, away from their families and friends, during this Holiday season,” Tarmo Uukkivi, director of operations and protective service for the Town of Huntsville in a media release yesterday. The release stated that due to the volume of snow, it will likely take 72 to 96 hours to return to normal snow maintenance services. Residents were advised to exercise extreme caution and only travel if necessary.
This morning, December 26 at 5:35 a.m., Environment Canada issued a weather advisory and warned of a continuation of hazardous driving conditions as additional snowfall amounts of up to 5 cm are expected by later this morning.
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We realize hydro crews are working very hard, but their communication by text system definitely requires a rework. Our power went out Friday a t 5pm and with roads unplowed until Saturday afternoon we knew crews could not respond with service times until that was dealt with. We were told 5pm Sunday, then 11pm, then 7pm, then 9pm and finally 5pm on Monday. Then as 5 pm Monday approached we were notified to wait until 5pm Tuesday! Why bother communicating if it just builds up false hope. If my generator wasn’t messed up I would probably ignore the situation, but it is. So Happy New Year everyone, hopefully tomorrow’s hydro prediction is true?
HELP !
No power, no plows on Vernon shores since 23rd . Csr abandoned on roads everywhere. Citizens completely cut off from any help. Folks won’t last much longer, as it’s not like they can walk into town. Send help 😔 please