Ice storm: About 33,000 customers still in the dark

Premier Kathleen Wynne told reporters on Thursday she too was without power Christmas morning.

Along with utility firms, Wynne called for calling for patience as crews work around the clock to bring the lights back.

She added the province is making available all of the resources to help municipalities weather the storm’s aftermath.

Wynne also says she’s seen first-hand gaps in the storm response, namely people being unaware of where the nearest warming centres are.

In some cases, some do not even know whether their homes had been reconnected, she said.

Meanwhile, deputy mayor Norm Kelly, who assumed most of Mayor Rob Ford’s responsibilities last month, came under fire for spending Christmas in Florida.

That is despite some of the outages happening in Kelly’s own ward.

But Kelly, who is now back, told reporters he was in constant contact with senior city staff while away.

Ford, who was stripped of most powers by the city council, said his

“heart bleeds” for those suffering outages.

[Note: “Toronto Hydro customers” is not synonymous with “residents.” A customer could be a household with many people. Toronto Hydro delivers power to roughly 720,000 customers in the city, according to its 2012 annual report.]

Article Appeared @http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/12/27/ice_storm_about_33000_customers_still_in_the_dark.html