Listen to this article
Estimated 3 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
A freezing rain event that’s left roads and trees across southwestern Ontario coated in ice has also seen emergency crews overwhelmed with calls for help from people without power and snapped trees.
The rain pelted roads and walkways starting Friday morning from Kitchener to Windsor, with police warning drivers to avoid all unnecessary travel.
By the evening, hydro crews were responding to thousands of outages across the region, including in London where trees had fallen onto people’s homes and were blocking roads.
At one point London Hydro said more than 70 outages were active, with that number fluctuating, and the utility company turning to the fire department for help.
“We’re incredibly swamped with lots of trees down on electrical wires, on homes, crushing roofs and so on, mixed in with other calls,” said London Fire Department Platoon Chief Gary Mosburger. “But we’re managing right now.”
The outside of Tipping’s roof in the city’s south end. Tipping says the tree branch poked through the attic and into a bedroom. (Submitted)
Emergency crews had also been called to help with vehicles stranded in the ditch due to icy road conditions, and rollover accidents near Highway 401. Police had not reported any serious accidents, but urged people to only travel if absolutely necessary.
Meantime, the City of London said it had received approximately 140 service requests related to tree damage, but it’s likely that figure didn’t fully reflect the extent of the damage.
“While safety concerns continue to be addressed, timelines for full clean-up remain difficult to determine,” a city spokesperson wrote in a statement.
“Significant work is still underway, and further assessments are required in parks and natural areas, where damage is also extensive. Complete restoration efforts, including debris removal, are expected to take several weeks to complete.”
Outages continue into the evening
According to hydro outage maps, work crews were working across the region Friday night, with London especially hard hit from the city’s eastern edge to Lambeth in the west.
“It’s the wind and the ice,” said Kathryn Arnot, spokesperson for London Hydro. “We’ve had some trees wind up on power lines.”
She was not able to say when power would be restored, but it helped that the freezing rain had ended.
An ice-covered tree collides with power lines near Viscount Road and Commissioners Road West. (London Hydro)
“That does make it easier for our crews to get a good handle on where the problem areas are without any other additional ones coming up,” she said.
Environment Canada was forecasting that temperatures across southwestern Ontario would remain below freezing until Sunday.
