More than 125,000 Ontario residents spent part, if not most, of their Easter weekend in the dark, after a major ice storm struck last Thursday night.
Across the province Hydro One crews cleared more than 50,000 trees and replaced over 180 poles, 41 transformers, 141 cross arms and many kilometres of line to restore power.
“At times it felt like Mother Nature was really challenging us, but we threw everything we had at this storm and have returned power to our communities,” said Hydro One vice president Jon Rebick in a press release.
“We faced this adversity with our customers, we know how much everything depends on electricity.”
Locally, many parts of Wellington County lost power for varying periods throughout the weekend and beyond, including some areas that were in the dark for several days.
It wasn’t until March 29, more than four full days after the storm hit, that hydro was finally restored for everyone.
On March 24, at the height of the storm, area fire departments were called every few minutes for reports of transformer fires and downed or arcing wires.
Centre Wellington
The storm affected all seven Wellington County municipalities to varying degrees, though Centre Wellington was by far the hardest hit.
Power outages began between 7 and 8pm on March 24, lasting for several hours in the urban areas of Fergus and Elora, where the downtown cores were pitch black. Darkened streets, numerous downed trees and branches posed additional risks, with branches extending across roadways.
Centre Wellington Hydro president Wayne Dyce said from Thursday night to early Friday morning all Centre Wellington customers were without power at some point. He said power was restored to Fergus after three hours while power was restored to most Elora customers by around 3am.
Crews continued restoration efforts with most power restored by Friday night, though they worked through Saturday evening clearing branches while contractors did repairs.
He added that on Friday and Saturday, Centre Wellington Hydro was assisted by crews from Guelph Hydro.
Dyce noted the township held an emergency committee meeting on the Friday morning “and we were in constant communication with public works, with the fire department and Hydro One – which helped in the restoration – through opening up roads and other issues.”
Dyce said he thinks the ice accumulation in Centre Wellington “was just as great as it was in 2013” – and the subsequent problems caused were very similar to those caused by the December 2013 ice storm. He thanked Centre Wellington Hydro customers for their patience and positive attitude during the outage.
The night of the storm last week, firefighters from both Elora and Fergus stations responded to multiple
transformer fires, while there were reports that Wellington Road 7 northwest of Ponsonby was closed for a time due to downed trees.
Centre Wellington Fire Chief Brad Patton said the department was kept quite busy, as weather-related emergency calls started on March 24 at 9am, with the last being reported on March 26 at 3pm.
“During the height of the storm both Fergus and Elora fire stations were staffed by a total of 32 officers and firefighters,” Patton said, adding the department responded to a total of 25 emergency calls, six in the Elora station district and 19 in the Fergus station district.
While downed trees and branches posed the most immediate risk, the weight of accumulated ice over time led to further tree damage, while warmer weather later in the weekend led to large chunks of ice plummeting to the ground.
In places such as the South River Road between Fergus and Elora large branches leaned against hydro lines, and in some cases were held aloft by the power lines.
Because of the significant weather and the number of outages, Centre Wellington officials decided to open the Sportsplex in Fergus as a warming station. It was used for three days, offering those without power a place to shower, access drinking water, charge electronics and spend the night if needed.
Water was also available for filling containers for farm animals if required.
Wellington County
In the rest of the county, Hydro One outage maps indicated 6,000 customers remained affected on March 25.
Portions of Erin received significant damage in the storm, while Guelph-Eramosa and Puslinch seemed to escape relatively unscathed compared to the central portion of the county.
The Hillsburgh library lost power and was closed on Saturday. The Erin and Aboyne branches remained closed, as did the Wellington County museum.
Unlike the ice storm of 2013, the northern portion of the county also managed to avoid the brunt of the storm damage.
Downed limbs left Moorefield and rural Mapleton residents without power for hours over the weekend, but the lights stayed on for the most part in Drayton.
Due to the hazards posed by falling tree limbs, the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) closed a number of properties to all visitors until further notice, including Conestogo Lake, Belwood and Elora conservation areas.
With temperatures warming Sunday, melting snow combined with heavy rainfall creating the potential for flooding in some ares of the GRCA watershed.
“The highest potential for flooding exists in areas that traditionally flood,” including Elora Drayton and Grand Valley, stated the authority, which declared a flood watch until at least March 29.
In Minto, CAO Bill White reported roads were sanded and salted prior to the ice storm “so that they were safe for careful travel during the storm.
“Power outages were intermittent but relatively short-lived compared to areas south of Minto,” White noted, adding staff fielded many calls Thursday afternoon as trees and limbs started to fall.
However, he noted, crews were able to clear roadways before the end of the day with some branches left on the roadside for clearing at the beginning of the week.
Minto cemeteries were closed due to the potential for more falling limbs, but were expected to be open by March 30.
On Monday water levels in Harriston were monitored after the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority issued a flood watch but White said they “did not reach critical levels.”
Province-wide, more than 1,200 Hydro One employees and crews from neighbouring utilities worked throughout the holiday weekend to restore power.
Barry Coyle, distribution superintendent, Orangeville Operations said the heavy ice brought with it specific safety concerns for both Hydro One crews and the public.
“It’s very slippery … But the big safety concern … (was) a lot of falling ice and branches,” said Coyle.
Through mutual assistance agreements, Hydro One received help from the following local distribution companies to help restore power to customers as quickly as possible: Haldimand Hydro, Festival Hydro, Woodstock Hydro, Erie Thames Hydro, Niagara Peninsula Hydro, Ottawa Hydro, Brampton Hydro One, Peterborough PUC, Midland PUC, Sudbury Hydro, and Newmarket Hydro.
– With files from Patrick Raftis and Chris Daponte
