On Saturday morning (April 5), Peterborough’s political leaders held the first of what will be a daily media briefing at the Peterborough County-City Paramedics base in East City to provide an update on the response to last weekend’s devastating ice storm.
Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith, Peterborough County Warden Bonnie Clark, and City of Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal all spoke at the briefing, which was also attended by Peterborough County OPP detachment commander Chris Galeazza, Peterborough County-City Paramedics Chief Patricia Bromfield, and communications staff from the city and county.
MPP Smith launched the briefing by noting “we’re in much, much better shape” compared to the beginning of the week, when between 101,000 and 102,000 commercial and residential properties in the county were without power (representing around 170,000 people) and 97,000 to 98,000 properties in the city were without power.
Across the province, the storm caused 1.4 million Hydro One customer to lose power from Penetanguishene to Kingston, which Smith said is “an area the size of Switzerland.” Later, he noted the combined area of the city, county, and Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations is larger than the province of Prince Edward Island.
“We have about 250 to 260 hydro workers based out of the County of Peterborough and the City of Peterborough, but we are now over 650 who are on-site doing the repairs,” Smith said.
He pointed out that, as power has been restored in other communities affected by the storm (most recently, Kingston, Trenton, and Bowmanville), hydro workers have been allocated to Peterborough County, Fenelon Falls in Kawartha Lakes, and Orillia.
“Those three communities are still the hardest hit,” Smith said.
In Peterborough County, Smith noted the biggest challenge has been the tree canopy cover, giving the example of Ennismore Waterfront Park. While Hydro One crews came into the area on Wednesday morning, it took them almost 11 hours just to clear broken limbs and tree debris so they could bring in the equipment needed to perform repairs — and then they discovered the situation was worse than originally thought.
“When they got in, the system was showing it was a single pole that was damaged, but it was actually nine of the 11 poles that had to be replaced,” he said.
According to Peterborough County Warden Bonnie Clark, around 267 hydro poles across Peterborough County have been damaged.
Smith added that hydro workers often expect to find a single pole damaged based on the information in Hydro One’s system, only to find that the poles on either side of the damaged pole are also damaged, as are the cross-arms that hold the wires.
Smith also said that a number of transformers that have also been damaged are in the process of being replaced. Once a transformer is replaced and brought online, hydro workers often find additional damage.
“It is taking time to discover all of the problems,” Smith said. “Our expectation is that we will be dealing with this for a number of weeks afterwards.”
Smith noted that Team Rubicon — a registered charity and volunteer-based disaster response organization that sends skilled disaster response teams into areas requiring assistance — has been active in the city and county. Team Rubicon teams are made up of Canadian military veterans, first responders, and civilians who have the expertise and specialized equipment to quickly assess damage to properties and put together a safe work plan at no cost to homeowners.
Smith said that while Team Rubicon will not remove tree debris from properties, they will clean it up and put it in stacks and piles for pick-up. He added that some municipalities will be able to pick up tree debris, but others will not as the priority is getting power restored.
The City of Peterborough has announced that curbside removal and chipping of tree debris that is too large to be processed through regular yard waste collection will begin in the north end of the city starting on Monday (April 7), as the city is now able to redeploy some public work crews for that purpose. It is expected that it will take four to six weeks to complete curbside removal and chipping in all areas of the city.
As for provincial support for the city and county’s costs for the storm response, Smith said municipal disaster relief fund will be made available over the next three or four months. However, he added that he couldn’t commit to specific dollar amounts at this time.
“The city, the county, and all of the municipalities in the county have been given instructions to keep track of all of the direct and indirect costs related to the storm activity,” he said. “Once we’re able to gather all of that, then we can come up with a plan on how we’re going to address it from the provincial level.”
Smith noted that “we have experienced all four seasons in one week” and that the snow and additional freezing rain and significant rainfall during the past week have added to the challenges.
He said that, with the spring thaw now underway, the Otonabee River is experiencing higher-than-normal elevated water flows. He noted that the snow pack in Haliburton County has been 175 per cent larger than what it would normally be. He also said that tree debris may increase the risk of damming on the river, and there is also a potential for some of beaver dams to burst because of water flow.
For people with seasonal properties in Peterborough County, Smith recognized that people may be anxious to visit their property to assess damage, but encouraged them to delay a visit as some fire routes may be impassable and hydro lines may be down.
“If you don’t need to go to the cottage, perhaps consider holding off for another week,” he said.
In her remarks, Peterborough County Warden Bonnie Clark said that public safety is the priority in the county’s ice storm response. She noted that, in addition to Peterborough County, a state of emergency has been declared in the Municipality of Trent Lakes, Asphodel-Norwood Township, Douro-Dummer Township, and Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations.
“Safety, and I can’t stress it enough, is paramount and decisions are being made to ensure that public safety comes first,” the warden said.
Echoing MPP Smith’s comments, Clark said some fire routes remain impassable, hydro lines are down, and damage to the tree canopy means many broken limbs are hanging that could come down “with a gust of wind.”
She said the county’s emergency operations command has been meeting twice daily, with participation from First Nations, townships, emergency responders, Hydro One, the health unit, Emergency Management Ontario, conservation authorities, and Trent Severn Waterway (Parks Canada).
She noted that 14,238 customers in Peterborough County still don’t have power, representing 14 per cent of total households in county.
While one county road is clear, Clark said many township roads and private roads are still blocked and that flooding is another threat to roads. She recommended people keep travel to a minimum.
Clark also pointed out that warming centres open in each of the townships (some with showers) and have food and snacks available. The City of Peterborough has made the McDonnel Street Activity Centre available as a warming room for county and city residents.
All county depots are open for tree debris drop-off free of charge until April 14 and possibly longer. Tree debris, as well as spoiled food, can be taken to the city-county landfill at Bensfort Road for free disposal.
She encouraged residents to visit the county website and their township websites for updates.
The warden said that paramedics have been performing wellness checks on all patients and delivering food boxes across the county and city. She encouraged people who need free tree debris clean-up to call Team Rubicon at 647-473-8655.
Clark also noted the impact of the ice storm on businesses in the county and encouraged people to support local businesses and restaurants, some of whom have extended their hours to make sure hydro workers have a warm meal at the end of the day.
“While our primary focus has been on public safety, we also acknowledge that our businesses here in Peterborough County have also been impacted by this storm,” she said. “Support is available from our economic development and tourism division of the county, and also our partners Community Futures Peterborough and the Peterborough and Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce. We encourage all our residents to shop local and support local businesses.”
In closing, Clark pointed out the geographic challenge of the storm response in the county when compared to the city, noting the county comprises 4,147 square kilometres versus 67 square kilometres in the city.
For his part, Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal provided a relatively brief update.
He noted that 2,000 customers in the City of Peterborough remain without power Saturday morning, compared to 4,000 on Friday.
The mayor thanked Jodi DeNoble, the city’s director of emergency and risk management, for her efforts in leading the city’s response. He said both he and Warden Clark have spoken to Premier Doug Ford, and that Ontario’s minister of emergency preparedness and response Jill Dunlop has visited Peterborough to survey the storm damage.
Leal said that the mayors of both Clarington and Belleville (Adrian Foster and Neil Ellis) have dispatched crews to assist Peterborough with clean-up efforts.
“This is a marathon — it’s not a sprint,” he said. “It will be, I think, months before the clean-up is completed.”
Leal wrapped up the media briefing by calling the repair of damaged hydro poles in the county as “crucial.”
“As the former warden would say, we’re all in this together, he said. “It’s going to test our resolve and our resiliency over the next little while, but I know we can do it and we’ll do it together.”
Smith, Clark, and Leal will continue to provide daily late morning media briefings at the Peterborough County-City Paramedics base in East City until further notice.
