Officials in Toronto say they are nearing the return of heat and light to customers who have been without power for eight days, but New Brunswick's power utility is worried a winter storm bearing down on the Maritimes will cause new problems.
The latest tallies show power is still out for about 7,400 customers in Toronto, 9,500 in New Brunswick, and 7,300 in Quebec. (In Quebec, the outages have fluctuated as crews turn off power in some areas to safely return it to others.)
Officials in both Toronto and New Brunswick have said they hope to have most customers back on the grid by Tuesday.
"We're still working to that plan to have most customers powered up by Tuesday; However, there are a couple of concerns [including] the upcoming storm," NB Power CEO Gaetan Thomas said.
There is a snowfall warning in effect for most of southern New Brunswick including St. Stephen and Rothesay, two of the communities that were hardest hit after last weekend's storm.
A winter storm will develop over the U.S. Eastern Seaboard this afternoon and track northeastward passing over the Maritimes, Environment Canada warns.
Total snowfall amounts of 10 to 25 centimetres are expected across southern New Brunswick. Some freezing rain is expected in the province, but not enough to merit a warning, the weather agency said.
NB Power spokesman Brent Staeban said the utility is preparing for the storm by moving additional crews, material and management to the affected areas in advance of the storm, and is co-ordinating with local communities and the Department of Transportation to make sure roads are cleared as soon as possible.
"It's simply going to slow us down and be an impediment, but we're going to do everything we can to push through it and keep the effort going," he said.
Staeben said if the storm's effects are "minimal," the vast majority of customers should have their power restored by 10 p.m. AT on New Year's Eve.
Even without the storm, Staeben described the restoration efforts as an "exceedingly complex and slow slog" that has included crews looking for outages on snowmobile, and some fixes requiring the removal of 50 to 60 trees on a section of line.
Toronto Hydro CEO Anthony Haines said Sunday morning that the finish line is within sight, while provincial utility Hydro One said the ice storm outages are essentially over outside the city, allowing their crews to lend a hand.
Haines and Hydro One CEO Carmine Marcello both said even when power has fully returned it won't mean business as usual at the utility. Cleanup including tree-trimming will take months, Marcello said.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, who says the concern she's heard most around the province is spoiled food, announced that Loblaws will be donating $25,000 in grocery store gift cards. Wynne said the government will look to match that amount, and challenged other food chains to help out.
Wynne said the program is meant especially for people who can't afford to replace the food that was lost.
Private citizens who would like to make donations should use the Daily Bread Food Bank, she said.
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said on Saturday that the City won't be looking into any sort of compensation until the power has been restored.
"I can't give any numbers or any assurances that we can reimburse anyone," Ford said.
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