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Thousands of people across southwestern Ontario remain without power Thursday morning after severe thunderstorms and high winds swept through the region Wednesday afternoon.
Hydro One says crews are working to restore power, with some of the largest outages reported in lakeside communities from Grand Bend to Goderich.
“Currently across the province we have just over 50,000 customers out,” said Hydro One spokesperson Bianca Pizzo. “Outages are being caused by severe winds overnight that caused downed tree limbs and branches onto power lines and in some cases have broken poles.”
Crews are out in full force, said Pizzo, working as safely and quickly as they can to restore power.
As of early Thursday morning, the largest outages in the region included:
About 4,500 customers in the Grand Bend areaAbout 4,500 in the Bayfield areaAbout 3,500 near GoderichAbout 3,600 in the Huron East areaAbout 900 near Ailsa CraigAbout 1,100 near Woodstock
Smaller outages were also reported elsewhere across the region. Power is expected to be restored by 11 p.m. Thursday.
London Hydro reported no power outages as of early Thursday.
Hydro One’s outage map and other outage tools are updated every 10 minutes. Customers can report an outage by texting 92887 (WATTS), through the company’s outage map or app, or by calling 1-800-434-1235.
Several roads remain closed
West Region OPP said a number of roads remain closed Thursday morning because of fallen trees and downed hydro lines.
Among the affected roads are:
Perth Line 55 between Highway 23 and Road 166Highway 8 from Clinton to Road 140Perth Line 44 from Road 150 to Road 179Hensall Road from Highway 8 to Hydro Line RoadFront Road in Clinton between Victoria Boulevard and Highway 8Ontario Street in Clinton between East Street and Smith StreetRoad 11 in Essex between Graham Sideroad and County Road 31McTaggart Line in ExeterVictoria Street in Simcoe at Homewood AvenueHighway 21 in Zurich between Zurich-Hensall Road and Sararas Road
Police are advising motorists to use caution and watch for debris and other hazards.
Stay away from downed lines
Hydro One is reminding people to stay at least 10 metres away from any downed power line and to call 911 and Hydro One to report it.
People using generators should operate them outside and away from windows, doors, and vents to prevent carbon monoxide from entering a home.
Environment Canada is also advising people to continue monitoring weather alerts as conditions can change quickly. The weather agency has issued a yellow fog advisory for the London region Thursday morning.
Travel will likely be hazardous in some locations, with visibility potentially reduced suddenly at times. Drivers should be prepared for areas of near-zero visibility and allow extra time to reach their destination.
Environment Canada is forecasting cloudy skies on Thursday with a 60 per cent chance of showers and a risk of a thunderstorm. Winds will become west at 30 km/h, gusting to 50 km/h late this afternoon with a high of 27 C, feeling more like 35 with the humidity.