Hydro One is gearing up for another storm with high winds expected across southern, central and eastern Ontario this weekend. Earlier this week, Hydro One crews restored power to 64,000 customers caused by similar weather conditions in parts of southern and central Ontario. The company encourages customers to restock their emergency kits ahead of the next round of anticipated weather.
Based on Hydro One’s outage prediction tool, crews will be moved into areas that are anticipated to be most affected so they’re ready to assess damage and quickly and safely restore power to customers.
Hydro One also has a number of innovative outage tools available for customers to report power outages and easily access updates when and how they want. Customers can report their outage by texting WATTS (92887), online, through the company’s outage map and app, or by calling 1-800-434-1235.
An estimated time of restoration will be determined for each outage once damage has been assessed by our crews. Hydro One’s outage tools are updated every 10 minutes as information comes in from crews on the ground.
Emergency preparedness kit
Hydro One is sharing a reminder of what to include in an emergency preparedness kit:
- Water and food that won’t spoil for all family members, including pets
- A manual can opener
- Windup or battery-powered flashlight and radio
- Extra batteries
- Cash
- First aid kit and medical items
- Blankets
- Emergency numbers including Hydro One’s outage line, 1-800-434-1235
- Fully charged cellphone and back up battery or have at least one corded phone at home; a cordless phone will not work in a power outage
Keep your emergency kit in a backpack and make sure everyone in your home knows where to find it.
Stay safe during a power outage
If the power system in your area is affected by bad weather, be sure to stay clear of any fallen power lines. If you spot a fallen line, keep at least 10 metres back, even if it does not appear to be live. Report it to the police and call Hydro One at 1-800-434-1235.