Carlsbad Springs continues the cleanup following the storm
Hydro Ottawa is targeting the hardest hit areas of the nation’s capital to restore power after the May 21 deadly storm.
As of Sunday afternoon, around 9,900 customers are still in the dark.
In the small community of Carlsbad Springs, east of Ottawa, an empty field is what’s left of a forest.
"Trees started falling, some 90 foot trees here behind me all came down," said Vince Giroux, whose property was damaged. "Big maples and oaks, all came down."
Homeowner Vince Giroux says his family has a sugar bush on the property. The damage to the trees is extensive.
"We make quite a bit of maple syrups, it’s quite a banner year in Carlsbad Springs," he said. "We had some trees 150 and 125 years old come down, some of our best producing maples and you can’t put a dollar value on those."
At one point his road was completely cut off because of trees that fell onto the roadway.
"We used our tractor here to get it opened up and it took quite a bit of time," said Giroux.
Hydro crews have been working around the clock to restore power.
"We have approximately 11,000 customers without power across the province," said Richard Francel, a Hydro One spokesperson.
The destruction is still everywhere.
In Carlsbad Springs, trees are on top of houses and cars are crushed by debris on day nine of the storm clean-up.
"About 50 households in Carlsbad Springs without power until projecting Wednesday evening,"said Coun. Catherine Kitts.
Thousands in the core of the nation’s capital are also in the dark.
Rodney Williamson is on day nine of no power. He’s getting by the best he can and is trying to keep his spirits up.
"You don’t feel like doing anything else except trying to live through the disaster," said Williamson. "It’s draining."
He bought a barbecue during the outage to make breakfast, but is still eating dinners and lunches out.
"We cannot afford to go out and have meals outside of the home everyday," said Irene Fonte, Rodney’s wife.
Meanwhile, the Pavilion Food Bank in South Keys got power back Sunday morning, but not before they lost all of the food in their fridges and freezers.
"Ten thousand dollars worth of food, easily," said Sandra Bruff, who volunteers for the food bank. "It was just a heartbreak."
A heartbreaking loss, but with the support of the community, they’re determined to bounce back from the storm.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Trudeau promises $1B in loans for child-care providers to expand care centres
The federal government is launching a new loan program to help child-care providers in Canada expand their spaces, and will be extending further student loan forgiveness and training options for early childhood educators, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
N.B. man wins $64 million from Lotto 6/49
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.