Eastern Canada is still reeling from major power loss and dangerous conditions after a week-long ice storm. Today, more than 300,000 Canadians in rural and suburban Ontario are facing growing inequities. The city of Orillia has responded to the severity of the situation, declaring a state of emergency. The storm has brought a swath of damaging freezing rain and downed trees. It has wreaked havoc on infrastructure, forcing Environment Canada to issue blizzard warnings for Ottawa and several regions of Quebec and Ontario.
The ice storm’s influence, particularly on road conditions, made daily life downright treacherous for thousands. Get enough folks energized and mobilized. Netflix’s announcement came, in part, by a deluge of pressure. The heavy accumulation of freezing rain has bent them down impressively. As a result, over 350,000 customers were without power as of Sunday afternoon.
“Outages are largely being caused by tree limbs and branches being weighed down from the accumulation of freezing rain.” – Hydro One
On top of the heavy power disruptions, central Ontario is under threat of flooding. As outlined by Environment Canada, areas are likely to see snow mixed with or changing to ice pellets. This type of hazardous weather is likely to persist through Monday morning. These dangerous conditions have resulted in extensive damage to public and private infrastructure.
This makes Orillia’s recent declaration of a state of emergency particularly poignant. As a result, the city has probably been on the receiving end of the worst long-term impacts from the storm.
“This is a very serious situation with hazardous road conditions, downed trees and hydro lines, and damage to public and private infrastructure.” – The city of Orillia
Restoration efforts are still in the process, but that progress has been hindered by the slow accumulation of ice on power lines. Alectra has assured that every resource at their disposal has been used to restore these widespread and persistent outages.
“Progress has been slow due to the ice on the lines, but all available resources have been deployed.” – Alectra
