Windsor crews providing assistance in storm-ravaged Ontario regions

A crew of workers from ENWIN Utilities is heading to central Ontario Tuesday evening to assist with power restoration efforts after a weekend storm knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people.

According to ENWIN representatives, a line crew of six people is headed to the Peterborough and Bowmanville areas for the rest of the week to assist in setting poles, many of which were toppled in the storm.

Hydro One confirmed it is drawing resources from all over the province and relocating them to the hardest hit areas, drawing from the pool of workers in southwestern Ontario.

ELK Energy also indicated it has crews on stand-by should the call for help be extended to this end of the province.

The City of Ottawa representatives said the electrical grid has never been hit this hard, crushing its ability to distribute power with more than 1,000 downed hydro poles and a handful of damaged transmission towers.

As of Tuesday, more than 70,000 homes were still without power, according to Ottawa mayor Jim Watson.

That means many residents in the Ottawa region have been without power for more than three days, including Windsor transplant, Angelica Haggert.

She got caught up in the storm during a disc golf tournament and returned to her home in the city to assess the path of destruction.

“It was so fast,” Haggert said. “I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. I’ve lived through both the ice storm and the blackout and that was one of the wildest things I’ve ever seen.”

Haggert said the power grid in her neighbourhood has returned for some of her neighbours, but her building hasn’t been as lucky. She’s already had to trash her fridge and freezer items as the community scrambles to share what little power it has.

“We’ve been kind of bumming charges for our devices from Starbucks and friends and kind neighbours who have put power strips out at the roadside and said come charge your device,” said Haggert. “Lots and lots and lots of people just offering any support that they can. They’ve really come together.”

On top of the local workers heading off to help fix critical energy infrastructure, hydro workers from across Ontario, New Brunswick and Quebec are already on the ground working to clear debris and repair downed poles.

“New Brunswick has sent some crews, Kingston, we have about 100 contractors who have come in to help get wires off the roads and help people get connected back to the grid,” said Mayor Watson.

Haggert says workers are going around the clock to make it happen.

“It was a holiday weekend, so I imagine getting them all back into town to do the work was probably a feat in and of itself,” she said.

“There’s definitely lots of people out there getting the job done.”