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
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Centre Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs hasn't been ruled out of tonight's Game 7 against the Boston Bruins.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.