An online map from Hydro One showed nearly 500 active outages by late afternoon, mostly in southern and eastern Ontario. In a statement to CBC Toronto, spokesperson Kenisha Petgrave confirmed that crews have restored power to 60,000 customers since the storm began. “Right now, there are approximately 36,000 customers without power across the province and crews are working quickly and safely to restore power to them,” Petgrave said. UPDATE: Crews are now responding to outages affecting more than 34,000 customers in southern and central ON. We have all available teams working to assess damage and restore power, including our partners in the hardest hit areas. For updates: pic.twitter.com/8aJiWRHY2z —@HydroOne Environment Canada warnings for affected areas warned that winds gusting up to 90 kilometers per hour were expected, including the greater Toronto area, Ottawa and the Niagara region. “That’s almost what happened,” said Peter Kimbell, a preparedness warning meteorologist at the weather service. He said the largest wind gust on record so far was in Port Colborne, Ont., on the shores of Lake Erie, where wind speeds reached 100 kilometers per hour. Environment Canada said earlier that areas on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in particular could see sporadic gusts in excess of 90 kilometers per hour coming off the water. However, the stormy conditions were relatively short-lived as they passed over the province, Kimbell said, adding that areas hit by strong winds should already see local improvement. “The top winds were relatively short, maybe an hour,” he said. The cold front was moving east, Kimbel said, noting that active weather associated with it is expected to reach eastern Ontario and the province of Quebec as the afternoon progresses. The agency’s warnings for Ontario said winds were expected to gradually ease from west to east throughout the afternoon and into Saturday night. Environment Canada previously said the winds could cause power outages and damage buildings.
Effects on Toronto streets, local power
In Toronto, police responded to several incidents caused by the weather, including signs that fell near intersections and trees that fell and damaged local power lines. Workers clear a tree that fell to the ground and took down local power lines due to high winds near Montgomery Road and Oak Hampton Boulevard, near Etobicoke. (Darek Zdzienicki/CBC) According to tweets from Toronto police, many roads have been closed in affected areas. Police are urging drivers and pedestrians to use caution or expect delays near:
Yonge Street and Shuter Street. Montgomery Road and Oak Hampton Boulevard. Lake Shore Boulevard and Colborne Lodge Drive. Sherbourne Street and Carlton Street. North of Adelaide Street West on Peter Street. Yonge Street and Wood Street.
Toronto Hydro tweeted that crews had been dispatched to affected areas, with power restored to the majority of customers as of 2:30 p.m. He encouraged all customers to keep their mobile phones charged and conserve battery power. More advice can be found on the Toronto Hydro website.
