More than 390,000 homes and businesses across Ontario remained without electricity Monday after a powerful ice storm swept through the province over the weekend, knocking out power, shuttering schools, and forcing municipalities to declare emergencies.
Hydro One reported that widespread outages persisted across a swath of Ontario stretching from Grey-Bruce to the Quebec border. While over 532,000 customers had power restored since the storm began, officials warned that full restoration may not happen until Tuesday or Wednesday. The utility said crews were working around the clock, supported by contractors, to bring service back online.
“It’s all hands on deck,” Hydro One stated on its website, emphasizing the scale of the response effort.
In the city of Barrie, Alectra Utilities confirmed that approximately 18,000 residents were still without power. Meanwhile, school boards including Simcoe Muskoka Catholic, Kawartha Pine Ridge, and Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington kept their doors closed as cleanup efforts continued.
The storm’s damage prompted a number of municipalities to declare local states of emergency, including Peterborough, Orillia, Oro-Medonte, Brock, and the District of Muskoka. Peterborough’s emergency declaration noted extensive damage caused by ice buildup bringing down power lines and tree limbs, creating hazardous conditions throughout the area.
Ontario Provincial Police confirmed that warming centres had been opened in the hardest-hit areas, including Orillia, Tay Township, and Peterborough. Orillia Fire Chief Chris Ferry said the local grid was severely compromised and warned that outages could continue for another 48 hours. “We have thousands of trees damaged or down,” Ferry said. “We’re just asking people to avoid hazardous areas with overhanging limbs.”
The storm also disrupted local businesses. Gina Allison, who runs a home-based salon in Oro-Medonte, has been without power since Saturday morning. The storm brought trees crashing down onto her family’s deck and cars, damaging both vehicles and forcing her to shut down her business temporarily.
“We had trees coming down all around us,” Allison said. “I’ve never seen anything like this.” Despite offers of help, she and her family have decided to stay home and wait for power to return.
With more freezing rain and rain in the forecast for midweek, Ontario residents are bracing for more challenges ahead as cleanup and repair efforts continue.
Originally published on Weekly Voice