Power Outage Update from City of Toronto Ward 5 Councillor Peter Milczyn

The following Dec. 23, 2013 text is from Peter Milczyn:

Dear Ward 5 Resident,

In an effort to keep you as informed as possible, with up to date information, regarding the current power outages in Etobicoke (and across the City), Toronto Hydro has advised me this morning that they continue to operate under the level III emergency.

As of 12:00 p.m., there remain approximately 219,000 customers without power across the city. Crews have restored power to 81,000 customers (there were 300,000 customers without power at the height of the storm).

Crews currently are focussing on ‘feeder’ restoration, to get the largest number of customers with power again. They continue to have priority customers operating without permanent power (hospitals, transit, water services) and are doing their best to restore them and refueling generators as needed. All have temporary power.

Residents of Toronto Community Housing:

The following buildings are still without power as of 11:00 am today. Buildings are being powered on a rolling basis so this information will fluctuate throughout the day.
· 41 Mabelle
· 49 Mabelle
· 5005 Dundas

Staff have been out visiting these buildings since yesterday afternoon. They are monitoring the situation and visiting individual units to ensure the most vulnerable residents are being taken care of. Crews have been focusing on seniors’ buildings, town homes and buildings that are further from warming centres.

Our efforts have been coordinated with the Office of Emergency Management at City Hall.

Here’s what Hydro and the City of Toronto been doing together:

-They have been focused on responding to wires down calls and making areas safe
-They have had every available crew on shift – 350 people in trucks (crews rostered on 12 hour shifts – working to change to 8 hour shifts over Christmas).
-Christmas vacations planned by Hydro staff have been cancelled and all staff asked to report to work to ensure a full compliment of available personnel.
– City Forestry crews have lent resources to assist in clearing this morning.
– They are coordinating with City of Toronto’s Office of Emergency management to establish priority loads, vulnerable sector, transportation etc. and in coordinating the location of warming centres according to power availability.
– Toronto Hydro have asked all southern Ontario utilities for assistance with restoration. They need to restore their territories first then assess their crew availability. We are hopeful they will report back this morning.
– EDA assisted us with engaging all southern Ontario utilities
– Mutual aid has been requested from US.

Here’s what we have accomplished so far:

– Restored 81,000 customers

The following critical loads have been restored:

· Richview pumping station
· Humber River Regional Hospital
· Toronto East General
· Horgan water treatment plant

TTC

– first crews on shift were dispatched to Warden Station and Sheppard Station
– Scarborough line – the issues are related to ice and debris on tracks, not Toronto Hydro.

If you spot a downed wire, please stay back (at least 10 feet) and report it to Toronto Hydro’s operations centre at 416-542-8000.

If you spot a downed tree, please report it to the City of Toronto’s Urban Forestry Services at 416.338.TREE (8733).

For more information, please visit torontohydro.com/poweroutage
Twitter – twitter.com/torontohydro
Facebook – facebook.com/torontohydro
YouTube – youtube.com/torontohydro
Flickr – flickr.com/torontohydro

Community centres with power are expected to operate as usual; those without power will be closed. There may be some program and operating impacts at community centres that are being used as Reception Centres.

Toronto public libraries with power are expected to operate as usual; those without power will be closed.

The Toronto District School Board has advised that all Early Learning and Child Care Centres operated by the City of Toronto and located in TDSB sites will be closed tomorrow. A list of the sites is available at toronto.ca.

All Toronto Catholic District School Board facilities and daycare centres will be closed today and tomorrow. Toronto Children’s Services is planning to send children home at locations where the power is off. Parents should try to contact their child care centre or provider prior to drop off to determine whether service will be available.

For more information about when to keep and when to throw out refrigerated foods, please click here

For more information and advice about emergency preparedness visit http://www.toronto.ca/oem.

I ask you to please check on your neighbours who may be without power, especially if they are elderly or disabled, to ensure that they are ok. If a medical emergency exists, please advise EMS by calling 911.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. I know this is a difficult time for all, especially with the holiday season upon us.

Sincerely,

Peter Milczyn