(Today’s Northumberland file photo)
Due to hydro still out in various parts of Northumberland County, Today’s Northumberland reached out to Hydro One for comment.
As some residents of Northumberland County have been without power Friday at 9 p.m. due to weather related incidents.
Why is it taking so long for the power to come back on in certain areas of Northumberland County?
How many (roughly) Hydro One workers in working in Northumberland County?
Have any other hydro companies from outside areas, like Toronto been called for help to restore power in areas such as Northumberland County?
Travelling around the County I haven’t noticed many/any downed hydro poles – so what is the issue?
With numerous businesses losing thousands of dollars and employees off work for days, is there any time frame expected to have all power on throughout Northumberland County?
This is the reply we received from Hydro One
Crews continue to work in full force alongside our contractors to restore power to customers. There are approximately 223,000 customers without power affected by 3,546 outages.
Crews have restored power to more than 783,000 customers since the start of the storm (at approximately 11 p.m. Friday night). This is the worst storm we’ve experienced since the ice storm in 1998 and the damage is severe and widespread. Hydro One workers from other areas of the province continue to mobilize to support the most impacted areas. We have also called in other local utility companies and contractors to aid in restoration as part of our mutual aid agreements.
We are preparing for additional freezing rain and wind in central and southwest regions tomorrow.
While wind speeds may not be severe, they may cause additional damaged trees/tree limbs to fall which could slow our efforts and cause additional outages. Crews will continue to work around the clock and will not stop until power is restored.
Given the severity and widespread damage caused by this storm, we expect restoration in the hardest hit areas to continue throughout the week. For remote areas, including customers who can only be reached by water, restoration may take longer. After most storms, we typically see damage concentrated in specific areas. This storm has been widespread with damage accumulating over several days. On some lines, crews have identified multiple types of damage that need to be addressed before power can be restored.
Crews are focused on restoring the main lines that run from the local stations to the community. Then they will be able to focus on clearing damage from lines that serve smaller groups of customers to get the power back on.
At this time, our team is focused on restoration, and we might not be able to share region-specific numbers during this time.
Thank you,
Pooja
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
