Utility company has no timeline for when remaining customer power will be restored
TORONTO — Power was lost to much of downtown Toronto on Thursday afternoon, leaving office buildings, major shopping malls , the university campus was left behind. The power went out after the barge's crane hit a power line.
A Hydro One spokesperson said the crane struck a high-voltage power line in the Portland area.
"This is a situation where everyone is on board, and we are looking at ways to reroute power to restore power as quickly and safely as possible," she said. Baccega Rosa said by phone. interview.
Toronto Her Hydro spokesperson said about 10,000 customers were affected by the outage that occurred around 12:30 p.m. Power was restored to half of them by 6pm. It was then delivered to the remaining customers hours later, the utility said.
The blackout affected customers from Carlton Street south to Queens Quay east and York Street east to Bayview His Avenue. Stop maps included the financial district, Toronto Metropolitan University, and the bustling Eaton Center Mall.
The storefronts of popular shopping hubs, electronic billboards around Yonge Square and Dundas Square outside the mall, quickly went dark when the power went out.
Mark Wells, who walked into the mall for a bite to eat, said the atmosphere was chaotic.
"People were scrambling everywhere. The lights were out in the shops. People were running everywhere. They were going in and out of doors," he said. "Outside the elevator, a woman nearly hurt herself...She was almost pushed against the door."
The mall was eventually closed, and a security guard stood outside the entrance I kept people out.
Many workers in the downtown core headed into the sunshine as work was interrupted by a power outage.
"We were just doing our job and it didn't work out, but it was just forcing us to go out in good weather, so it's not that bad for me." No,” said software engineer Riaz Birani.
Deny Soto, who works on her 30th floor of her tower in an office that is part of the Eaton Center, said she and her colleagues had walked all the way since services had stopped. He said he was forced to get off the plane. to the elevator.
It was a "dizzying" process, she said. "We were going round and round for a while and then had to take a break and turn in the opposite direction."
Her employer canceled all remaining meetings and left her at home. She added that she decided to finish her work.
Zeus Sequeira, who works for the Royal Bank of Canada, was on his way to a meeting when he learned of the power outage. He said he hopes staff will be able to adapt to the situation, applying the flexible work skills he learned during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I think there will be some inconvenience. It may affect productivity a little bit, but it shouldn't really affect your ability to deliver a lot," he said. rice field. "It's certainly inconvenient."
Other downtown employees have tried to accommodate in various ways.
Sandra Joukov installed her cordless clippers outside a downtown barber shop with her client, Brandon McBurney.
"I'm working outside today," she said from the sidewalk.
From his barber's chair in the sunshine, McBurney said he was making the most of the situation.
"Here I get my tan, my hair cut, life is going well," he said.
As a result of the blackout, many traffic lights went out and Toronto police were helping direct vehicles in some areas. In a Twitter post, police reminded people to treat the intersection as a four-way stop if the traffic light is off.
Toronto Mayor John Torrey thanked the powerless for their patience.
"Once power is restored to everyone, we know that Hydro One and Toronto Hydro will work to determine exactly what happened in this incident." he said in a statement posted to him. twitter account.
As of late afternoon, Toronto Fire Chief Stephen Powell said the fire department had not seen an increase in accident reports in the downtown core, and people seemed to be handling the situation well.
"They were all very well-behaved," he said.
The fire brigade responded to at least a dozen calls regarding people trapped in elevators, Mr. Powell said.
Federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser was one of them, sharing a social media post showing him smiling in an elevator with a small group.
"Came to town for the day — jumped in elevator just before power outage. Still here. Terrible timing," Fraser tweeted just after 1pm. Fraser's office confirmed that the minister was in the elevator for about 50 minutes before being released.
A spokesman for the Toronto Transportation Commission said part of the downtown subway station temporarily lost full power but was soon restored. He TTC's King station in the financial district was on emergency power, transportation spokesman Stuart Green said.
Many of those who entered the largely darkened train station on Thursday afternoon used cell phone flashlights to light their way.
— Additional reports by Noushin Ziafati and Jordan Omstead
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