Cause of April 15 Power Outage
According to Toronto Hydro, last night's outage was caused by an issue with Hydro One's (the province's electricity transmission utility) transmission equipment in the west end of the city.
The outage lasted approximately two hours; by 11:00 pm, Hydro One had repaired the issue with its equipment, and power was restored to the approximately 120,000 customers affected.
The outage extended from roughly Yonge Street west to Mississauga, and Lawrence Avenue south to Dupont Street.
Ice Storm Debris Clean Up Plan
Toronto’s city-wide tree debris removal starts Friday, January 3, 2014 and is expected to take approximately eight weeks, weather permitting. It will begin simultaneously in all wards across the city.
The plan is a coordinated approach by Solid Waste Management Services; Transportation Services; Parks, Forestry & Recreation; and Toronto Water. Solid Waste Management Services is the lead. Private contracted services will also be used.
Up to 120 three-person crews made up of both City staff and contractors will clear tree debris from roadsides using chain saws and chippers while another 120 two-person forestry crews will continue their work removing hanging branches that threaten power lines and walking areas.
The City will haul away all tree branches from front yards and roadsides and will include those that have fallen on private property if they are less than 15 cm (six inches) in diameter and have been taken to the curb. Residents should neatly stack limbs/branches at the front edge of their properties without blocking either sidewalks or roads and with the butt ends of branches towards the road.
City crews will not collect large limbs (more than 15 cm or six inches in diameter) from private trees that have fallen on private property. Property owners should contact a private contractor for this. A City permit is not required to remove damaged or downed trees that are hazardous, however many trees can be saved with proper care and pruning.
For residents that live in the Asian long-horned beetle (ALHB) quarantine area in Etobicoke, City crews and private contractors will dispose of this debris in an appropriate manner. Residents are advised not to take this wood out of the Federal quarantine area. Check toronto.ca/trees for more information.
Residents can monitor the progress of debris removal by checking a detailed map.
City of Toronto Storm Update, Dec 23rd - 5PM
The City of Toronto is continuing to provide updated information this afternoon on ongoing impacts and the City's response to the ice storm. City staff scheduled to work are asked to report for their regular shifts to continue to deliver as many services as possible to residents, businesses and visitors.
Toronto Hydro
Toronto Hydro is currently reporting that less than 200,000 customers are without power. Hydro crews have been and will continue working around the clock to respond. The utility hopes to have power restored by Wednesday. Call Toronto Hydro's Lights Out number, 416-542-8000, for serious situations only.
Toronto Emergency Services
The City's emergency services (Fire, Emergency Medical Services and Police) are very busy and are managing increased call volumes. Residents are reminded to only call 911 in the event of an emergency. The non-emergency number for Toronto Police Service is 416-808-2222.
Community Care Access Centre Clients
Community Care Access Centre clients who use home oxygen and have concerns can call 310-2222 (no area code required) for assistance. All others are asked to contact their oxygen supplier for assistance.
TTC
Service has resumed on the transit system with the exception of the Sheppard subway and some busses remain on diversion. Please check www.ttc.ca for updates and service alerts.
GO Transit
GO Transit is operating an Adjusted Winter Schedule today. Check schedule details at http://gotransit.com/public/en/schedules/winterstorm.aspx.
Toronto Roads and Traffic
The City's Transportation Services Division reports that hundreds of traffic signals are not working but the count may change as power is restored. Salting operations are continuing on collector roads, local roads and sidewalks. Drivers are cautioned to watch for debris on roadways. The following roads in Scarborough are closed to traffic as they are not safe due to fallen power lines and trees:
- Old Kingston Road from Military Trail to Manse Road
- Military Trail from Old Kingston Road to Bobmar Road
- St. Andrews Road from Meldazy Drive to Suraty Avenue
- Colonel Danforth Trail - Bonacres Avenue to dead end
- Highview Avenue at Lillington Avenue
- Pinegrove Road at South Edgely Avenue.
Food, Water, Warmth and Rest
Thirteen Toronto Police Service facilities that have been identified as having community rooms available for use 24/7 as warming centres are as follows:
Division 11 – 2054 Davenport Rd.
Division 12 – 200 Trethewey Dr.
Division 14 – 350 Dovercourt Rd.
Division 22 – 3699 Bloor St. W.
Division 23 – 5230 Finch Ave. W.
Division 31 – 40 Norfinch Rd.
Division 33 – 50 Upjohn Rd.
Division 42 – 242 Milner Ave.
Division 43 – 4331 Lawrence Ave. E.
Division 51 – 51 Parliament St.
Division 52 - 255 Dundas St. W. (Lobby only)
Toronto Police Service College – 70 Birmingham St.
Toronto Police Service Headquarters – 40 College St.
The City is operating 12 locations where vulnerable residents and those who need assistance can access food, water, warmth and rest. Pets are welcome.
Toronto Community Centre locations are as follows:
Dennis R Timbrell Community Centre, 29 St. Denis Dr. (Eglinton/DonMills)
Malvern Community Centre, 30 Sewells Rd. (Neilson/Rd/Finch)
Agincourt Community Centre, 31 Glen Walford Rd. (Sheppard/Midland)
Driftwood Community Centre, 4401 Jane St. (between Finch/Steeles)
Mitchell Field Community Centre, 89 Church Ave. (Yonge/Finch)
Joseph P Piccinini Community Centre, 1369 St Clair Ave. W. (St Clair/Keele)
Matty Eckler Community Centre, 953 Gerrard St. E. (Pape/Gerrard)
Lawrence Heights Middle School, 50 Highland Hill, North York, ON, M6A 2R1
Armour Heights Community Centre, 2140 Avenue Rd., North York, ON, M5M 4M7
Edithvale Community Centre, 131 Finch Ave. W., North York, ON, M2N 2H8
Pleasantview Community Centre, 545 Van Horne Ave., North York, ON, M2J 4S8
East York Collegiate Institute, 650 Cosburn Ave., East York, ON, M4C 2V2
Warming Centres – daytime only:
The public is invited to any City building with public space.
Toronto Public Libraries
Branches with power are open regular hours; those without power are closed. Tuesday December 24, all open branches will have holiday hours from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For complete information on locations that are open please refer to www.torontopubliclibrary.ca.
Toronto District School Board
The Toronto District School Board has advised that all Early Learning and Child Care Centres operated by the City of Toronto and located in TDSB sites will be closed tomorrow. A list of the sites is available at www.toronto.ca.
Toronto Catholic District School Board
All Toronto Catholic District School Board facilities and daycare centres will be closed tomorrow.
Toronto Children's Services
Parents should contact their child care centre or provider prior to drop off to determine whether service will be available.
Frozen water service prevention
If you don't have heat for your home and the temperature drops well below freezing consider leaving a tap open enough for a trickle of water so there is some movement of water in pipes that might be vulnerable to freezing.
If you are leaving your home because of no heat you can shut off the main service valve in your basement and open your lowest tap to drain the water out of your plumbing lines to prevent them from freezing.
Bike Share Program (BIXI)
The bike share program will be closed until December 28 in order to clear ice from the various stations and bikes.
Food Safety
For more information about when to keep and when to throw out refrigerated foods, visit www.health.gov.on.ca/english/public/pub/foodsafe/homefood.html.
Emergency Preparedness
For more information and advice about emergency preparedness visit http://www.toronto.ca/oem.
Social Media Updates
For updates during an emergency event and other City of Toronto information, follow @TorontoComms on Twitter. The City will be using #citystorm when providing updates on the storm.
Toronto Hydro Power Outage Update
We continue to operate under the level III emergency.
As of 6:30 a.m., there are currently an estimated 227,560 customers without power across the city. Crews have restored 72,500 customers (300,000 customers without power at peak).
The damage caused by fallen trees and limbs continues to cause problems. We are dealing with multiple tree limbs on each feeder causing significant delays. We're tracking a cold front moving in from the west. Winds will create further damage bringing tree limbs down.
The estimated time of restoration has been revised to Friday. This ETOR may be revised after potential damage caused by wind. With the addition of the City of Toronto's 40 forestry crews this morning, restoration efforts should begin to move faster.
Restoration Difficulties for Crews:
- Ground conditions are icy, making footing and driving difficult and making feeder patrol very slow.
- Difficult entry into backyards.
- Crews trying to climb icy poles.
- Driving is slow due to traffic lights outs and icy road conditions.
- Restoration in the dark takes much longer - crews can't see in the dark where limbs are resting on lines.
- Must energize the lines and look for a spark to find tree branches on lines (reason why some customers' lights are flickering)
- Multiple limbs on wires taking a lot of time to find and clear.
We continue to have priority customers operating without permanent power (hospitals, transit, water services) and are doing our best to restore them and refueling generators as needed. All have temporary power.
Here's what we've been doing:
-We have been focused on responding to wires down calls and making areas safe
-We have had every available crew on shift. (crews rostered on 12 hour shifts)
-We have called in contractor crews to assist.
-City Forestry crews have lent resources to assist in clearing this morning.
-We have asked all southern Ontario utilities for assistance with restoration. They need to restore their territories first then assess their crew availability. We are hopeful they will report back this morning.
-We will determine this morning how we will engage our US partners.
Here's what we have accomplished so far:
- Restored 72,500 customers
- Police Fire Ambulance - 138 calls at start, now 48 remaining.
· We have attnded and made safe 89 PFA calls.
- We have restored some critical loads:
· Richview pumping station
· Humber River Regional Hospital
· Toronto East General
· Horgan water treatment plant
· Yorkdale Mall and Subway station
- TTC - first crews on shift were dispatched to Warden Station and Sheppard Station
- Scarborough line - the issues are related to ice and debris on tracks, not Toronto Hydro.
- Sunnybrook - 2 supplies to Sunnybrook are both compromised in the valley. ETOR: 5 p.m.
- We have been refueling with diesel to City's generators as well as to nursing homes and other critical loads.
- We have no safety incidents reported from our crews and we ask for their continued diligence on work practices.
City of Toronto Storm Update
The City of Toronto is continuing to provide updated information this morning on ongoing impacts and the City's response to the ice storm. City staff scheduled to work today are asked to report for their regular shifts to continue to deliver as many services as possible to residents, businesses and visitors.
Toronto Hydro is currently reporting that approximately 225,000 customers are without power. Hydro crews have been and will continue working around the clock to respond. The utility hopes to have power restored by Wednesday. Call Toronto Hydro's Lights Out number, 416-542-8000, for serious situations only.
The City's emergency services (Fire, Emergency Medical Services and Police) are operating and managing increased call volumes. Residents are reminded to only call 911 in the event of an emergency. The non-emergency number for Toronto Police Service is 416-808-2222. Residents who use home oxygen and have concerns can call 416-310-2222 for assistance.
The TTC has made progress restoring system service, with streetcar service resuming on all routes. There is currently no service on the Sheppard subway line and the Scarborough RT due to hydro-related issues and cleanup after the storm. Please check www.ttc.ca for updates and service alerts.
GO Transit is operating an Adjusted Winter Schedule today. Check schedule details at http://gotransit.com/public/en/schedules/winterstorm.aspx.
The City's Transportation Services Division reports that approximately 100 traffic signals are not working but the count may change as power is restored. Salting operations are continuing on collector roads, local roads and sidewalks. The following roads in Scarborough are closed to traffic as they are not safe due to fallen power lines and trees:
- Old Kingston Road from Military Trail to Manse Road
- Military Trail from Old Kingston Road to Bobmar Road
- St. Andrews Road from Meldazy Drive to Suraty Avenue
- Colonel Danforth Trail - Bonacres Avenue to dead end
- Highview Avenue at Lillington Avenue
- Pinegrove Road at South Edgely Avenue.
The City is operating nine Reception Centres where vulnerable residents and those who need assistance can access food, water, warmth and rest. Pets are welcome:
- Dennis R Timbrell Community Centre, 29 St. Denis Drive (Eglinton/DonMills)
- Malvern Community Centre, 30 Sewells Rd, (Neilson/Rd/Finch)
- Agincourt Community Centre, 31 Glen Walford Rd (Sheppard/Midland)
- Driftwood Community Centre, 4401 Jane Street (between Finch and Steeles)
- Mitchell Field Community Centre, 89 Church Avenue (Yonge/Finch)
- Joseph P Piccinini Community Centre, 1369 St Clair Avenue West (St Clair/Keele)
- Matty Eckler Community Centre, 953 Gerrard Street East (Pape/Gerrard)
- Franklin Horner Community Centre, 432 Horner Avenue (Kipling/Lakeshore)
- 2 Civic Centre Court – Adjacent to Etobicoke Community Centre (West Mall and 427)
Community centres with power are expected to operate as usual; those without power will be closed. There may be some program and operating impacts at community centres that are being used as Reception Centres.
Toronto public libraries with power are expected to operate as usual; those without power will be closed.
Branches without power so far are: Oakwood Village, Mount Pleasant, Perth, Dupont, Maria A. Shchuka, Wychwood, North York Central, Bayview, Centennial, Yorkwoods, Jane Sheppard, Hillcrest, Weston Road, Eatonville, Alderwood, Mimico, Swansea, Jane Dundas, Woodview Park, Richview, Bendell, Burrows Hall, Goldhawk, Highland Creek, Morningside, Port Union and McGregor Park.
The Toronto District School Board has advised that all Early Learning and Child Care Centres operated by the City of Toronto and located in TDSB sites will be closed tomorrow. A list of the sites is available at toronto.ca.
All Toronto Catholic District School Board facilities and daycare centres will be closed today and tomorrow. Toronto Children's Services is planning to send children home at locations where the power is off. Parents should try to contact their child care centre or provider prior to drop off to determine whether service will be available.
For more information about when to keep and when to throw out refrigerated foods, visit www.health.gov.on.ca/english/public/pub/foodsafe/homefood.html.
For more information and advice about emergency preparedness visit http://www.toronto.ca/oem.
For updates during an emergency event and other City of Toronto information, follow @TorontoComms on Twitter. The City will be using #citystorm when providing updates on the storm.
