The lights slowly came back on at homes and businesses across Ottawa on Good Friday, as Hydro Ottawa aims for the goal to restore power to all customers by the end of Saturday.
More than 90,000 customers in Ottawa, eastern Ontario and western Quebec remained without power Friday evening, after Wednesday's ice storm damaged trees and hydro infrastructure across the region.
Hydro Ottawa says as of 8 p.m. Friday, approximately 5,000 customers across Ottawa remained without power.
"Barring any further weather issues, including potential wind gusts forecasted for today, we expect that power will be restored to everyone by end of day (Saturday)," Hydro Ottawa said in a statement to Newstalk 580 CFRA Friday morning.
Hydro Quebec is reporting 41,000 customers remain without power in the Outaouais, including 17,000 customers in Gatineau. Hydro Quebec says the goal is to restore power to most of the province by Friday night.
In Ottawa, 225 hydro crews spent the holiday working to restore power to homes and businesses. Residents also spent the day cleaning up damage on their properties.
"We have some electrical poles on the branches," resident Prachi Patel said. "Which got all of our wiring but luckily we didn't get any electric shut off or power outage."
Some residents decided to book a hotel after spending a couple of days without power.
"We will see what happens on Easter Sunday. We have family coming," Dawn Van Dyk said.
More than 50,000 customers have had their power restored across Ottawa on Thursday and Friday.
In a statement Friday evening, Hydro Ottawa said crews will be focusing on the following neighbourhoods Friday night and into Saturday.
- Bells Corners
- Borden Farm - Fisher Glen
- Braemar Park - Bel Air Heights
- Bridlewood - Emerald Meadows
- Carleton Heights - Rideauview
- Carlingwood West - Glabar Park - McKellar Heights
- Casselman
- Cityview - Crestview - Meadowlands
- Copeland Park
- Edwards - Carlsbad Springs
- Iris - Queensway Terrance South
- Laurentian
- Manotick
- Old Barrhaven West
- Parkwood Hills - Stewart Farm
- Richmond
- Riverside South - Leitrim
- Skyline - Fisher Heights
- Westboro
- Whitehaven - Queensway Terrace North
On Friday, restoration efforts focused on the following communities, and smaller outages in excess of 10 customers in these areas:
- Beaverbrook
- Bells Corners
- Braemar Park - Bel Air Heights
- Brookside - Briarbrook - Morgan's Grant
- Carlington
- Carlingwood West
- Cityview - Crestview - Meadowlands
- Copeland Park
- Dunrobin
- Kanata Lakes - Arcadia
- Katmavik - Hazeldean
- Lindenlea - New Edinburgh
- Marlborough
- Munster - Ashton
- Parkwood Hills - Stewart Farm
- Richmond
- Rockcliffe Park
- Vanier North
"Today’s efforts focused on restoring power to the largest impacted areas and to those customers who still remained without power, followed by a shift to smaller areas and individual outages," Hydro Ottawa said on its website Friday night.
"Saturday's restoration will focus on any residual outages in smaller areas and individual outages, with the aim to have all remaining customers restored by the end of the day."
The utility says this will be a "multi-day restoration event" given the size of the damage.
"We experienced one of the most devastating ice storms since 1998," Joseph Muglia, Director of Systems Operations and Grid Automation of Hydro Ottawa, told reporters Thursday morning.
Ottawa recreation facilities
The city of Ottawa says recreation facilities are available for residents without power to charge devices and use showering facilities at arenas, pools and recreation centres.
Visitottawa.ca/recreationfor the list of recreation facilities near you.
The city of Ottawa says the Manotick, Navan Memorial, Greely and Lois Kemp arenas are operating as water distribution centres.
Ottawa play structures
Some play structures at parks across the city of Ottawa are temporarily closed following Wednesday's storm.
The city says play structures at some parks have been damaged and are closed, while some parks contain tree debris or hanging limbs.
Residents are asked to exercise caution if using parks this weekend.
IKEA employees help out
Employees at Ottawa's IKEA store prepared 400 hot meals for residents spending a third day without electricity.
Coun. Laine Johnson's office says IKEA management volunteered to prepare the food on Friday, which was dropped off at the Pinecrest Recreation Centre and Howard Darwin Centennial Arena for residents.
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe dropped by IKEA to visit with staff.
"I am proud to live in a city where, on Good Friday, IKEA employees come to work on their day off to prepare hot meals for their fellow citizens still affected by the power outage," Sutcliffe said on Twitter.
Hydro One
Hydro One says approximately 45,000 customers remain without power across eastern Ontario, as of 4:30 p.m. Friday.
The majority of the outages are in the three hardest hit areas – 15,000 customers in the Winchester area, 10,000 in the Vankleek Hill area and 14,000 still without power in the Perth area.
"It's all hands on deck," a Hydro One spokesperson said.
Toronto Hydro announced Friday morning it would send four crews to eastern Ontario to assist with restoration efforts.
Crews will arrive in the area to help restore power to critical infrastructure in the region, Toronto Hydro said.
Hydro One says crews will "Not stop" until every customer is restored following Wednesday's ice storm. (Hydro One/submitted)
Hydro Quebec
Hydro Quebec says it hopes to restore power to 800,000 customers across the province by the end of Friday. More than 500,000 customers have had their power restored following the storm that left 1.1 million people in the dark on Wednesday.
More than 36,700 customers remain without power across western Quebec, as of 6 p.m. Friday.
Hydro Quebec is reporting 14,491 customers without power in Gatineau, 14,017 customers in the Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais in the dark and 6,191 customers without power in the Pontiac.
City of Gatineau
City of Gatineau officials say crews are pruning tees and clearing away branches following the storm, along with fixing traffic lights.
"The situation is steadily improving, but Hydro-Québec stillhas some work to do before power is restored in all sectors. I am counting on residents for their cooperation," Gatineau Mayor France Belisle said in a statement.
"To avoid interfering with their work, please do not park on the street while Hydro-Québec crews are there. I would also like to remind the public that it is important to exercise caution when traveling due to the weakened branches that may fall with the gusty winds we are experiencing today."
The city of Gatineau says residents can recharge devices and fill up water containers at the following locations on Friday:
- The Donalda-Charron library, open until 10 p.m. (Hull sector)
- The Guy-Sanche library, open until 6 p.m. (Gatineau sector)
- The Centre communautaire et culturel de Buckingham, open until 10 p.m.
- The Lucy-Faris library (Aylmer sector), usualhours
- The Aurélien-Doucet library (Hull sector), usualhours
- The Jean-Marie-Carron library (Masson-Angers sector), usualhours
The city of Gatineau says residents can take a shower at the Centre sportif de Gatineau and Maison du citoyen on Friday between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. The Paul Pelletier aquatic centre and the Lucien-Houle aquatic centre are also open.
Gatineau Park
Some trails and parking lots in Gatineau Park will reopen on Saturday, after this week's storm caused damage in the park.
Crews spent Good Friday clearing debris from trails.
The National Capital Commission said Friday afternoon that the parkways and parking lots P2, P5, P6, P8, P9 and P10, as well as the Sugarbush trail are being cleared of debris and will be safe to use starting on Saturday.
"Other trails and parking lots remain closed until further notice," the NCC said.
