A spokesman for Hydro One says some people living in remote parts of rural eastern Ontario may be waiting weeks to restore electricity after last Saturday’s devastating and deadly storm.
Speaking on Newstalk 580 CFRA’s “CFRA Live with Andrew Pinsent,” Richard Francella said the more remote areas of the province require additional equipment.
“We anticipate that those customers in those rural, remote and island locations where you need specialized equipment such as boats and helicopters, in the Perth and Bancroft areas, we anticipate that these customers will be without electricity for a few more days,” Francella said. “In the Tweed area, just because of the extent of the damage, in those hard-to-reach areas, we anticipate that a small number of customers will be without electricity for several more weeks.”
Tweed, Ontario, about 40 miles north of Belleville, suffered severe damage during the right storm last week.
“In Tweed, from what we’ve heard from a crew member, it’s easier to count the number of sticks that are still standing than the ones on the ground. The damage is pretty extraordinary,” Francella said.
Hydro One says more than 1,900 hydraulic poles in southern and eastern Ontario were damaged or destroyed by the storm. A typical storm only does a fraction of that kind of damage, Francella said.
There are about 25,000 Hydro One customers running out of electricity in Ontario as of 11 a.m. Saturday, mostly in the eastern part of the province. More than 720,000 customers have had their electricity restored in the last week.
“We continue to make that progress, but our equipment will not stop until all customers are restored,” Francella said.