Half of customers affected by downtown Toronto outage have power restored, Toronto Hydro says - The Globe and Mail

The site of a collision between a barge carrying a crane and power lines are photographed in Toronto, on Thursday, August 11, 2022.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press

Hydro One said power has been restored in Toronto after an outage in the city’s downtown core on Thursday that lasted nearly eight hours and affected about 10,000 customers

Toronto Hydro said the outage, which began at approximately 12:30 p.m., affected as many as 10,000 customers in an area stretching from just south of Bloor Street to the edge of the waterfront, and as far west as University Avenue to the Don Valley Parkway in the east.

The company could not confirm the cause of the outage, but said it was due to a “loss of supply” from parent company Hydro One, the province’s largest provider of electricity.

Hydro One spokesperson Tiziana Baccega Rosa confirmed the company was investigating a crane accident as a possible cause, and said that it involved a crane in an upright position being moved on a barge and striking a power line.

Toronto Fire District Chief Stephan Powell also confirmed the incident and said that fire services are attending to the scene and have cordoned off a significant portion of the area, noting that the power lines fell into the water and the area remain dangerous.

No injuries have been reported, but Mr. Powell said that fire services responded to a high number of people trapped in elevators related to the power outage. Federal Minister of Immigration Sean Fraser tweeted a picture of himself trapped in an elevator with three others, calling it “terrible timing.”

Jennifer Stranges, spokesperson for Unity Health Network (UHN), said St. Michael’s Hospital is operating as normal but was affected by the outage and was relying on backup power systems to maintain patient care.

“Patients with scheduled appointments or who need to visit our emergency department should continue to come to the hospital for care. Our teams have worked quickly to respond to this issue and we thank them for their continued efforts,” Ms. Stranges said in an e-mail.

Gillian Howard, vice-president of communications for UHN, said the outage also affected Toronto General Hospital, which is on the corner of University Avenue and Elizabeth Street. Ms. Howard said the hospital was operating on normal power, but required emergency backup power for around a half hour. She also noted that none of UHN’s facilities on the west side of University Avenue were affected, such as Mount Sinai Hospital or the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

The outage caused general frustration for residents around the downtown core as entire blocks remained without power, halting business and creating traffic jams as intersections became four-way stops. In a reminder of the nationwide Rogers outage in July, stores put up signs turning customers away due to a lack of functioning payment systems and an inability to use any appliances. Some people also complained of being unable to access high-speed cellular services like data and 5G networks.

Other affected locations were the billboard-laden Yonge-Dundas Square and the Eaton Centre, the latter of which has had its power restored and reopened to shoppers according to Cadillac Fairview, the company which owns the mall. St. Lawrence Market remains closed due to the outage.

The city confirmed city hall and other government buildings in the affected area are also without power or operating on emergency systems, but said that “equipment and life safety systems in the building should continue to work as normal.”

Our Morning Update and Evening Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiV2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZWdsb2JlYW5kbWFpbC5jb20vY2FuYWRhL2FydGljbGUtcG93ZXItb3V0YWdlLXRvcm9udG8tZmluYW5jaWFsLWRpc3RyaWN0L9IBAA?oc=5

2022-08-11 22:21:02Z
CBMiV2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZWdsb2JlYW5kbWFpbC5jb20vY2FuYWRhL2FydGljbGUtcG93ZXItb3V0YWdlLXRvcm9udG8tZmluYW5jaWFsLWRpc3RyaWN0L9IBAA