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Environment Canada’s wind warning for Toronto has ended, but high winds and power outages persist across Ontario Monday evening as areas north of the city for snow squalls.
As of 9:30 p.m. Monday, the Hydro One outage map showed that about 22,000 customers in the province were still without power, following a storm system that brought strong winds, heavy precipitation and plunging temperatures.
That’s down from about 50,000 customers Monday morning, according to a spokesperson for Hydro One.
“Every outage has its own estimated time of restoration and that may change as crews continue to assess damage,” Tiziana Baccega Rosa told CBC Radio’s Metro Morning.
Customers in Orangeville and Guelph were among the most affected as of Monday evening, according to Hydro One’s map. Since the start of the storm Sunday, Hydro One has restored power to more than 88,000 customers, spokesperson Kaitlyn Forde said in an email.
“We know that being without power over the holidays is especially challenging,” Forde said. “Crews are working alongside our contractors and team members from local utilities to restore power as safely and quickly as possible.”
Forde said damage has been largely cause by downed lines from ice accumulation, and outages may continue overnight as high winds persist across parts of the province.
WATCH | Winter weather barrels through Ontario, Quebec:
Icy weather, whiteouts make for travel mess in Eastern Canada
A winter storm is working its way across Ontario and Quebec before bearing down on the East Coast, bringing with it a mix of rain, snow and ice and leaving many travellers in limbo after flight cancellations.
Snow squall warnings north of Toronto overnight
Snow squall and wind warnings are still in effect in many parts of Ontario, according to Environment Canada.
Newmarket, Georgina and the northern York Region are under a snow squall alert, with blizzard conditions expected, Environment Canada warned Monday evening. The areas are expected to see 25 to 50 centimetres of snow, continuing into Tuesday afternoon.
Travel will be extremely hazardous, with visibility reduced to near zero at times, the alert said, and Environment Canada is warning against non-essential travel.
Weather a factor in Pearson delays: spokesperson
On Monday evening, 16 per cent of departures from Toronto Pearson Airport were experiencing delays and 12 per cent were cancelled, according to the airport’s website.
The higher-than-normal delays are due to multiple factors, including both weather and the high volume of travellers Monday, Pearson spokesperson Stacy Voudouris said in an email.
Hanna Ovsenek was at the airport Monday afternoon, trying to make it to New Zealand to see her family. She said her connecting flight was delayed by over an hour, but she was hoping to still make her connection on Monday afternoon.
“We’re retired and so if we have a night in Vancouver, that’s not a bad thing, right? But I feel bad for people who are racing to get to work or wherever it is they’re going,” she said.
