Tens of thousands in communities in Eastern Canada were facing Christmas Day without electricity Wednesday as officials issued urgent warnings for residents to guard against carbon monoxide poisoning as they attempted to keep warm.
The warnings came as temperatures dropped along the path of a weekend ice storm that felled power lines, left trees and roads covered in ice and caused widespread travel delays
In Toronto — where some 300,000 customers were without power at the height of the storm — about 72,000 customers remained without hydro on Wednesday.
Further east, about 85,000 people were still without electricity elsewhere in Ontario, in southern Quebec and in New Brunswick.
At least two people died of carbon monoxide poisoning in the town
of Newcastle, Ont., east of Toronto, after trying to keep warm with
a gas generator running in a garage.
Carbon monoxide poisoning was also believed to be the cause of
three deaths in a chalet on Quebec’s north shore. However, it is
unclear if the incident involved a loss of power related to the ice
storm.
Much of southern Ontario and southern Quebec are facing temperatures between minus-15 and minus-20 Celsius. Parts of the Maritimes that had been hit by the ice storm on Monday are not quite as cold, but temperatures remain below zero.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.