Toronto ice storm could leave thousands in the dark past Christmas

Toronto Hydro says some customers may not see power restored until the weekend after the worst ice storm to hit the city in recent memory left hundreds of thousands without power and caused chaos for commuters throughout the region.

Much of southern Ontario was hit with a brutal ice storm over the weekend, leaving city streets coated in a thick layer of ice and bringing ice-laden tree branches crashing down on cars, homes and power lines throughout the region.

Approximately 228,000 customers are still without power in Toronto, and Toronto Hydro says some customers might not see power restored until the weekend because of the severity of the storm.

The utility's president Anthony Haines said it was "truly one of the worst ice storms we've seen here in Ontario."

"Certainly it continues to be a challenge for us. Our crews continue to work around the clock, and certainly last night in some very difficult conditions," he said Monday morning.

"Today's job, with the sun up, is to then continue that work ... our next priority are big wires, making sure we get the big feeders back up which will bring thousands and thousands of customers back up with them and we're doing that right now."

A massive ice storm struck Toronto on Sunday, damaging cars and downing power lines. (Mark Blinch/Reuters)

Haines said crews are scrambling to get power up and running as quickly as possible.

"Right now we continue to see damage, of course, as we still see a lot of ice on the limbs and limbs continue to come down but what I've noticed over the last number of hours — we've seen that slow down and so I feel like we're now winning the war, if you will, where we're able to restore more than is breaking," he said.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford says the city's main roads are in good shape, and crews are turning their attention to local and side roads.

"We believe that the worst weather is over," Ford said at a media briefing Monday morning.

"We were concerned last night with the high winds and freezing temperatures [but] that did not happen."

Ford said he was right to hold off calling a state of emergency.

"It's my call to declare a state of emergency,'' he said. "I didn't think it was appropriate to call that last night. I waited until this morning. As you can see things are improving so that's where we stand.''

About 120,000 customers were without power in other parts of southern Ontario as of 7 a.m. Monday as a result of the same storm.

CBC meteorologist Colette Kennedy says the forecast for the coming days means the possibility of more tree branches and power lines coming down.

"The wind is picking up from the north to northwest today, up to 20 kilometres an hour, and so because of that and temperatures dropping off even towards tomorrow, it's going to stay cold," she said.

"And that means the ice is going to stay in place for a few days."

According to Environment Canada, between 10 and 30 millimetres of ice fell upon the Greater Toronto Area during the storm.

Warming centres open

Both Sunnybrook Hospital and Toronto East General Hospital lost power in the storm, though Toronto Hydro said power at East General Hospital was restored early Monday morning. Ford said he hoped power at Sunnybrook Hospital would be back up and running by Monday afternoon.

Ford said restoring power at 20 Toronto Community Housing buildings was a priority.

Warming centres have been made available to give people a place to go if they are without power and need warmth, water and rest. Officials say 323 people stayed in centres in Toronto overnight.

Ford said the city is ready to open additional centres if needed.

The city was slated to provide another update at 4 p.m. Monday.

'Nothing in my area'

Vinny Christina, 67, lost power in her west-end apartment, leaving the senior huddling under a blanket to keep warm.

A man tries to clean up the debris of ice and fallen tree branches from his car. (Eric Foss/CBC News)

"I can't sit still because my bones hurt cause I have osteoporosis, so I have to keep walking in the hallway to get some heat," she told CBC News. 

Christina said she's kept up to date on news reports using her battery-powered radio.

"I hear Rob Ford says there's community centre[s] opened up and where they are … there's nothing in my area."

Christina said she has family she can stay with if necessary, but she feels the city has let her down. She's worried about what other elderly people in her building will do if the outage continues for days.

Schools, daycares closed

The forecast Monday calls for some flurries and Environment Canada projects a daily high temperature of -3 C.

The freezing rain in Toronto created headaches for the TTC on Sunday, including the suspension of all streetcar service due to icy power lines. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)

But with sub-zero temperatures in effect, the weather agency warns roads could be icy for several days.

The Toronto District School Board closed all of its facilities Monday, including child-care facilities, due to safety concerns.

The Toronto Catholic District School Board says all of its own facilities and daycare centres will be closed until Tuesday.

York University cancelled or postponed all scheduled exams and classes at its Keele and Glendon campuses. The same goes for the Miles S. Nadal Management Centre and the Osgoode Hall Law School Downtown Centre. Humber College also closed its campus and daycare for the day.

The Toronto Zoo, which  is open 364 days a year and usually closes only on Christmas Day, is closed for "inclement weather."

TTC updates

The ice storm caused major problems for the Toronto Transit Commission, which on Sunday had to deploy shuttle buses to move people along streetcar lines that were shut down and portions of the subway lines where service had been stopped.

Here's the update for Monday:

• Streetcars are now back up and running.
• Subway service is down between Woodbine and Warden stations on the Bloor–Danforth line. Shuttle buses are running.
• There is no service on the Sheppard line. People are asked to use the No. 85 Sheppard East buses.
• Shuttle buses are also operating on the Scarborough RT line. Service is down there too.
• Subways are not running at North York Centre Station on the Yonge-University-Spadina line.
• GO Transit is operating on an adjusted winter schedule today.

A handful of cancellations and delays were reported at Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Monday morning, a day after some 200 flights were cancelled on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.

Via Rail was advising customers to expect delays on trains moving along its Toronto-Ottawa and Toronto-Montreal routes.

Outside Toronto

Surrounding cities were dealing with similar issues, including downed trees, power outages and slick roads. The OPP reported dealing with dozens of collisions amid slippery and unpredictable road conditions.

Salt trucks, like the one above that was spotted near Highway 407 and Keele Street, are making the rounds as a result of the ice storm that has struck Toronto. (Jon Castell/CBC)

North of the city, power outages were reported in Vaughan, Markham, Unionville, Aurora, Richmond Hill and Thornhill.

West of the city in Peel Region, there were at least two separate injuries that appeared related to the storm.

A 10-year-old boy was hurt when a tree branch fell on the roof of a car he was riding in, while a man in his 60s was seriously injured in a fall that occurred when he was trying to clear branches from the roof of his house.

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