Major Power Outage In Etobicoke
According to CP24 News, hundreds of people in Etobicoke will be without electricity power today.
Etobicoke Outage Due To Water Damage
As we’ve pointed out before, there can be many reasons for a power outage. We are provided with some information from Toronto Hydro in regard to the outage that will affect many in Etobicoke today – it’s due to water damage to underground electrical cables.
Problem Discovered During The Night
Toronto Hydro crews apparently discovered the issue during the night last night, which has affected their customers in an area bounded by Bloor Street to the south, Eva Road to the north, The East Mall to the east and The West Mall to the west. The crews have needed to pump out water in order to be able to fully affect repairs, and in the meantime, power remains out until about 4:00PM, it’s estimated.
“Crews overnight were isolating these cable and preparing for their work area which included pumping out water from a couple of underground cable chambers,” Toronto Hydro spokesperson Russell Baker reportedly told CP24 News.
COVID-19 Presents Extra Challenges During Etobicoke Power Outage
Baker also pointed out that there were extra challenges right now, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. With most people at home and self-isolating, any power outage where there is no backup power available will cause much frustration for extended electrical outages. Staying indoors with access to utilities, television, electronic devices, and the inability to charge up those devices will be of course, more than annoying to many people.
There is, however, confidence in getting the repairs done in as fast a time frame as possible as Baker reports that Toronto Hydro has “enough crews on hand to respond to any significant outage, despite the global COVID-19 pandemic.”
If you’re affected by a power outage and don’t want to go through another extended period without electricity, we’d invite you to give us a call at (519) 941-6740. We’re able to help you with standby generator installations, service, and maintenance throughout the Greater Toronto Area and beyond.
In the meantime, stay safe!
Update April 7th
According to the Toronto Hydro twitter account, power is not expected to be restored now until morning. They wrote:
“We’ve called in additional crews to assist with restoring power. Unfortunately, this repair is more complicated than anticipated and is taking a longer time to complete. Be assured, we have all hands on deck. (1/2)
Crews will work throughout the night and hope to have power restored tomorrow morning. We understand that being without power for so long while everyone is staying home is incredibly difficult and we truly apologize. (2/2)”
This, of course, is not good news for those who have been affected by the Etobicoke power outage and who do not have backup generator power available. Some of course, are quite worried about food spoilage as a result of the long outage, and during the COVID-19 crisis, this is an even tougher thing to have to bear.