Hydro damage 'significantly worse' than the ice storm and tornadoes, Hydro Ottawa says
Hydro Ottawa says the damage from Saturday's storm is "simply beyond comprehension", and is "significantly worse" than the 1998 ice storm and the tornadoes that hit the capital three years ago.
Approximately 110,000 Ottawa homes and businesses remain without power two days after a severe storm hit the capital, with wind gusts of up to 120 km/h.
In a letter to Mayor Jim Watson and council Saturday night, Hydro Ottawa said damage is located across the city.
"We are managing this from a whole of city perspective given that no single area of the city was unaffected in some manner," the letter said.
"And to provide some context for you and your residents, this event is significantly worse than both the ice storm of 1998 and the tornadoes of 2018. The level of damage to our distribution system is simply beyond comprehension."
More than 200 hydro poles have been broken across Ottawa, including dozens along Merivale Road.
Hydro Ottawa says crews will work around the clock until power is restored.
"The widespread nature of this outage persists with no single fix," the utility said.
"Our teams are working as quickly as possible with reinforcement crews coming in from our contractors and utility partners from as far away as the Greater Toronto Area, Kingston and New Brunswick. Crews will work around the clock until all power is restored to our city."
Hydro has been restored to the Queensway Carleton Hospital, the Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre water treatment plant and the Ottawa International Airport.
Shortly after the storm hit, more than 180,000 customers were without power – which is about half of the Hydro Ottawa customer base.
Hydro Ottawa's director of system operations and grid automation Joseph Muglia told CFRA's The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll the storm hit different parts of Ottawa with different intensities, creating challenges for crews.
"Just the way we were hit with this one, extremely damaging for sure and so widespread across the city which makes it so much more complicated."
More than 150,000 Hydro Ottawa customers lost power when a series of tornadoes hit Ottawa in September 2018.
During the 1998 ice storm, more than 600,000 people lost power across eastern Ontario.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.