90,000 Hydro One customers in the dark

GEORGIAN BAY, ONTARIO - More than 90,000 Hydro One customers were without power September 24 after a severe storm hit homes and businesses in the Georgian Bay area the previous evening.

As many as 50,000 customers were still in the dark the following day after winds gusting as high as 90 km/h knocked down trees and hydro poles, said Enza Cancilla, manager of public affairs for Hydro One.

Residents and businesses in Parry Sound, Penetanguishene and Minden were the hardest hit, she said.

“We’re hoping to get additional customers back on (power) but considering the extent of damage... it’s going to take us a little while to get everyone back on,” Cancilla said.

Customers in Huntsville, Bancroft and Bracebridge were also affected.

Hydro One has deployed four helicopters to help emergency crews assess the damage in the remote areas of the region.

“We typically use helicopters to patrol damage in remote areas and heavily treed areas. We do bring in as many helicopters as we can to assess the damage… to be more effective in getting our crews out there,” she said.

Crews from all over the province have been working around the clock since Sunday to restore power to as many as 40,000 customers.

Even though this is the third major storm to hit the region in the past three months, thereÂ’s not much Hydro One can do to prevent outages, Cancilla said.

“Obviously the weather is a big factor in the outages this summer. The winds have come off of Georgian Bay and with winds of 90 km/hr, there’s not a lot we can do. We spend millions of dollars a year on our vegetation management program so we can do a lot of tree cutting and that helps, but all we can really do is mobilize crews and get power back on as soon as we can,” she said.