Old Man Winter may have calmed down, but the storm that walloped Eastern Canada over the weekend continues to cause headaches. Tens of thousands of residents in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick will likely spend Christmas in the dark.
Trees and branches felled by winds or brought down by heavy ice caused massive power outages.
Although utility crews have managed to restore electricity to a significant portion of the homes affected, they still have much work to do and they may not get around to some sectors until the weekend.
The area worst hit by the weather system was the Greater Toronto Area — which is made up of Toronto and the four surrounding municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel and York — where freezing rain was on the menu.
Damage to power lines left 300,000 customers without lighting and heating. Some 90,000 are still affected. At least three hospitals had to temporarily rely on back-up generators, but they’re all hooked back up to the grid now.
Authorities issued a warning Tuesday to people trying to stay warm with gas stoves and coal heaters. Carbon monoxide poisoning claimed five lives in Canada’s largest city. First responders attended to 110 calls for suspected carbon monoxide issues in 24 hours. They usually receive about 20 per day. Three more people are said to have died of the same causes in Quebec.
The City of Toronto did not declare a state of emergency, but Emergency Management Ontario, a branch of the province’s Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, is providing assistance to municipalities that request it.
At a press conference, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said “We are pulling together as a province.”
By midday Tuesday, the electricity was also out in more than 44,000 homes in New Brunswick and 27,000 in Quebec.
Meanwhile, flights have resumed after many cancellations and delays, but the cold in the Prairie provinces has delayed travellers trying to get home by train. Some waited 19 hours between Sunday and Monday because two freight trains broke down near Melville, Saskatchewan, on tracks also used by passenger trains.
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