Hydro One warns of more outages as winter storm pummels Golden Horseshoe

Tens of thousands of Ontarians remain without power Monday night as high winds, falling snow and freezing rain continue to pummel much of the Golden Horseshoe and beyond.

Hydro One, the province’s largest electricity provider, says it has restored power to around 88,000 homes across Ontario so far, but 47,000 are still in the dark. Power went out for most people before they woke up Monday morning.

In our region, Hydro One says around 4,500 people are without power — mostly in the Simcoe and Niagara regions. Lights could be back on in their homes anywhere between 9 p.m. Monday and 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Alectra Utilities — which is in charge of the region’s urban centres — is reporting outages in St. Catharines, affecting 2,000 customers. They’re looking to have the lights back on Monday evening.

Hydro One has some advice for anyone who finds themselves without power.

“The big things you can do are number one: stay informed. Make sure you sign up for our outage alerts or check our outage map that will give you an idea of when power is expected back,” says Madeleine Power, a Hydro One spokesperson.

Residents should also keep a safe distance from downed power lines — about 10 metres or three school bus lengths — and report them immediately to Hydro One or 911.

Hydro One advises that BBQs and backup generators be used only outdoors and away from windows or doors.

The utility company says they are expecting more homes to lose power in the areas hardest hit by the storm, as harsh winter conditions continue overnight.

They ask anyone who does lose power to report it as soon as possible so they can get crews out to assess the damage.

Hydro One says in Monday’s storm, most power loss has been caused by high winds knocking down power lines or pushing tree limbs onto the lines.

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