Wind storm knocks out power to customers in Ottawa, eastern Ontario
The power is back on for thousands of customers in Ottawa and across eastern Ontario, after strong winds caused by a cold front knocked out power across the region.
Environment Canada had issued a wind warning for Ottawa and parts of eastern Ontario, calling for westerly winds gusting to 90 km/h Saturday afternoon in the wake of a strong cold front. The wind warning ended just after 4 p.m.
"The wind is too dangerous, I don't like it," Kham Phong said on Saturday.
"I'm not going to stay out here because I don't want trees to fall down on my head. So scary!"
Hydro Ottawa reported approximately 9,000 customers were without power in different pockets of the city. Power was restored to most customers by 7 p.m.
The largest outage was in an area spanning from Osgoode to Riverside South-Findlay Creek and Gloucester-Southgate. Hydro Ottawa said a hydro pole fire knocked out power to 8,200 customers.
Smaller outages were reported in the College/Knoxdale-Merivale area, Alta Vista and in Ottawa's west end.
As of 6:40 p.m., small pockets of eastern Ontario were still without power. The largest outage was in the Sharbot Lake area, with approximately 1,000 customers without power.
An open air fire ban is in effect for the city of Ottawa.
OTTAWA FORECAST
Showers and flurries ending this evening then partly cloudy with a 60 per cent chance of flurries. Low minus 7 C, with the wind chill making it feel like minus 12 overnight.
Sunday’s outlook is mainly cloudy with a high of plus 1 C.
Monday’s looking sunny with a high of 5 C.
A mix of showers and flurries is in Tuesday’s forecast. High 4 C.
Wednesday could see a bit of sunshine.
MAYOR'S CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION
The city of Ottawa says the Mayor's 20th Christmas Celebration scheduled for Saturday will be postponed because of the weather forecast.
"Environment Canada has issued a weather advisory for winds gusting up to 70 and 80 km/h – which can pose safety risks for all visitors and participants," the city said in a statement.
The Mayor's Christmas Celebration has been rescheduled to Saturday, Dec. 10.
With files from CTV News Ottawa's Natalie van Rooy
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.