Storm Leaves Thousands Without Power in Canada

Dec. 23, 2013 11:47 a.m. ETTORONTO—Close to 400,000 electricity customers in Ontario and Quebec were still without power Monday after a weekend ice storm downed transmission lines and severely hampered holiday-related travel.
Toronto’s electric utility, Toronto Hydro, said Monday that more than 200,000 customers in Canada’s largest city still had no service, and it warned that some affected customers might not have power until the weekend, after the Christmas Day holiday.
At a news conference, Toronto Hydro Chief Executive Anthony Haines said the utility was getting help from crews in other municipalities and working round the clock to restore service. “We’ll continue to do that until all the work is done,” Mr. Haines said.
Bad road conditions and falling branches were making cleanup and restoration efforts difficult.
At the same news conference, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said one of the two Toronto hospitals affected by the power outages on the weekend was back online and the other was expected to be fully powered by later Monday.
“We believe that the worst weather is over,” he said. On Sunday, officials had warned that expected heavy winds could down more ice-laden trees and exacerbate an already messy situation, but that didn’t happen, and the city didn’t declare a state of emergency.
The storm continued to affect subway and surface transit operations in Toronto on Monday.
About 120,000 other customers were without power in other parts of Ontario, according to electric utility Hydro One Inc. In the neighboring province of Quebec, about another 50,000 customers still lacked power, Hydro-Quebec said.
The storm was now moving into Atlantic Canada. Canada’s largest air carrier, Air Canada, AC.B.T -0.26% Air Canada Cl B Canada: Toronto $7.57 -0.02 -0.26% Dec. 23, 2013 1:21 pm Volume : 511,150 P/E Ratio 108.14 Market Cap $2.16 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee N/A 12/12/13 Canada Stocks to Watch: Air Ca… 12/12/13 What WSJ Canada Is Reading Thu… 11/20/13 What WSJ Canada Is Reading Wed… More quote details and news » AC.B.T in Your Value Your Change Short position warned customers to expect flight delays or cancellations at a number of airports in the region. That followed a weekend of severe flight disruptions at airports in Toronto and Montreal.
Write to Carolyn King at carolyn.m.king@wsj.com

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