Power was restored to most of Mapleton by Sunday afternoon following a severe ice storm that lashed the region last week.
By Monday, only a few pockets affecting about a couple hundred homes in Drayton and rural parts of the township were still without hydro.
Across Wellington County, thousands lost power on April 12 after an ice storm swept through the area early in the day. The storm also damaged countless trees, which forced the temporary closure of some local roads.
Hydro One reported well over 115,000 people in the province were affected by the power outage, with every single Wellington municipality hit to varying degrees, with the northern part of the county seemingly the hardest hit.
At about 9am Friday, Wellington County OPP reported Wellington Road 12, between Wellington Road 109 and the 12th Line of Mapleton Township, was closed due to approximately 30 snapped hydro poles.
Utility crews worked throughout the weekend restoring power to areas in stages, with Mapleton among the last in the county to come back on line. Power wasn’t restored in much of Drayton until late Sunday afternoon. By contrast, residences in nearby Harriston and Palmerston had power by late Friday evening.
Warming stations opened
The PMD Arena in Drayton, operating on generator power, was open to the public for warming over the weekend. Fresh drinking water and the use of warm showers was also provided. The arena was open again Monday for those still without power. The Mapleton municipal office was also opened to the public for warming and cell phone charging on Friday.
CAO Patty Sinnamon noted that a small number of people accessed warming centres over the weekend, but generally people found their own means of coping.
“Fortunately we weren’t dealing with very, very cold temperatures,” she pointed out.
Unlike the neighboring municipality of North Perth, Mapleton did not declare a state of emergency. However, Sinnamon said the township did bring its emergency control group together Sunday afternoon to discuss measures like getting food safety information out to the public.
Sinnamon said there was no damage to municipal property as a result of the storm or power outage. However, she said many residents were dealing with such issues and working on cleaning up storm damage.
Local public works crews were also working on storm cleanup and Sinnamon said on Monday morning municipal officials were discussing plans to offer a roadside collection service for downed tree limbs.
