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Thousands lose power on weekend

March 30, 2016   ·   0 Comments

By Mark Pavilons
& Wendy Gabrek
Thousands of New Tecumseth residents had to endure the long Easter Weekend without power, following the massive ice storm.
Parts of New Tecumseth and Barrie were still without power Monday.
PowerStream reported that heavy rainfall and strong winds Sunday night, further damaged the trees that were weakened by the ice.
Crews worked throughout the weekend, restoring power to areas like Alliston, Tottenham and Beeton. Pockets of Alliston that had power, including a small number of fast food restaurants, were inundated with calls.
The freezing rain, which occurred Thursday night and into early Friday morning, combined with wind, resulted in fallen trees and branches on power lines. This, along with a loss of supply from Hydro One, caused more than 32,000 customers to be without power at the height of the storm.
The arenas in Tottenham, Beeton and Alliston were opened as warming centres, and a place for residents to refill water containers, get a hot cup of coffee and charge their cell phones.

Hydro One and PowerStream removed trees and branches from the lines and made repairs as needed. The utilities brought in extra crews to bolster the company’s restoration efforts.PowerStream only serves the urban areas of New Tecumseth and the other areas are served by Hydro One.
In Alliston, 7,726 PowerStream customers were affected. Some 4,758 customers out from 11:50 p.m. Thursday to 5:50 p.m. Friday. Another 2,968 customers were out from 7:05 p.m. Thursday to 2:50 p.m. Friday. Pockets of customers were out until Saturday and Sunday.
In Beeton, 1,522 PowerStream customer were impacted. The majority  of customers out from 7:25 p.m. Thursday to 7:50 p.m. Friday. Pocket of customers out until Saturday.
In Tottenham, 2,362 PowerStream customers were hit. The majority were out from 7:25 p.m. Thursday to 10:50 p.m. Friday.
Individual customers out until Saturday and Sunday.
In all, 11,619 PowerStream customers were affected in New Tecumseth.
New Tecumseth workers have joined in the clean-up efforts, and the County of Simcoe (responsible for waste collection in New Tecumseth) will begin collecting fallen tree limbs during the week of April 18th (visit www.simcoe.ca for more information).
In the meantime, residents are encouraged to report any downed trees or road hazards to the Public Works emergency number at 905 729-2291, and leave any debris from town trees at the curb for the Public Works Department to pick up.


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