|
Power
was
restored
in
Toronto’s
downtown
core
Thursday
evening
after a
major
power
outage
in the
afternoon.
(Toronto
Star) |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
A
coffee
shop
without
electricity
at Bloor
and
Royal
York
posts a
sign
informing
customers
it's not
brewing
any
coffee
due to
power
outages.
Hydro
One says
between
5,000
and
10,000
customers,
primarily
in the
west
end, are
in the
dark.
(Trevor
Dunn/CBC) |
| |
Toronto
Hydro
restores
power
after
major
outage
leaves
businesses,
residents
without
electricity
for 7
hours
By Ande
Fraske-BornykStaff
Reporter
Isaac
Phan
NayStaff
Reporter
thestar.com
TORONTO,
ONT -
Power
was
restored
in
Toronto’s
downtown
core
Thursday
evening
after a
major
power
outage
in the
afternoon.
Traffic
ground
to a
halt and
some
10,000
customers
lost
power
near 1
p.m.
Toronto
Hydro
tweeted
at 2:12
p.m.
that
customers
north of
Carlton
Street
to
Queens
Quay
East and
York
Street
east of
Bayview
Avenue,
as well
as north
of The
Esplanade
to
Queens
Quay
East and
Church
Street
to Lower
Jarvis
Street
were
affected.
Hydro
One said
in an
email to
the Star
the
outage
may have
happened
after a
crane,
carried
by a
barge,
came
into
contact
with
transmission
lines
near the
Port
Lands.
Hydro
One
later
tweeted
a
picture
of the
barge,
crane
and
transmission
circuit
affected.
It added
it was
working
with
Toronto
Hydro to
restore
power.
Videos
circulating
on
social
media
showed
traffic
lights
and the
screens
at Yonge
and
Dundas
Square
were
dark at
about 1
p.m.
Shops at
the
Eaton
Centre
shuttered
their
doors as
people
walked
up and
out and
down and
out from
service
escalators,
another
video
showed.
Toronto
City
Hall
abruptly
went
dark and
was
operating
under
emergency
power.
The
outage
appeared
to
affect
the area
east of
University
Ave.
Traffic
lights
east of
the main
thoroughfare
were
out,
although
some
store
fronts
west of
University
were
also
without
power.
YOU
MIGHT BE
INTERESTED
IN...
Downtown,
restaurants
were
affected.
The
dining
room at
Mengrai
Thai
went
dark
early in
the
afternoon,
its
director
of
business
and food
services,
Allan
Lim,
said. He
said he
had to
cancel
15
pre-booked
reservations
and
close
the
restaurant’s
dining
room.
Using
the
restaurant’s
gas
stoves,
Lim said
Mengrai
was able
to
fulfil a
few
takeout
orders.
Still,
he
estimated
the
outage
cost
Mengrai
about 80
per cent
of its
business
on
Thursday.
Just
before 6
p.m.,
Toronto
Hydro
tweeted
about
half the
customers
affected
had
power
restored.
Toronto
Hydro
added
customers
from
north of
Carleton
Street
to south
of
Queens
Quay
East,
and from
York
Street
East to
Bayview
Ave were
still
affected.
By 7
p.m.,
Toronto
Hydro’s
outage
map
still
showed
more
than
5,000
people
were
without
power
near
downtown,
Cabbage
Town,
Corktown
and Old
Toronto.
Five
hours
into the
outage,
Lim said
that the
$1,000
worth of
meat in
Mengrai’s
refrigerators
could
spoil.
“We’re
really
worried,”
he said.
“We will
have to
try to
cook it
and give
it away,
if (the
outage)
lasts
for much
longer.”
Lim
added
without
power,
some
local
customers
were not
able to
make
themselves
food.
“I’m
more
worried
about
how
people
are
going to
get
through
the day.
For
those at
home,
there’s
no TV
and no
food,”
Lim
said.
“This is
a really
an
emergency,
I would
say.”
Just
before 8
p.m.,
Toronto
Hydro
and
Hydro
One said
on
Twitter
power
had been
restored
to the
downtown
core.
No
injuries
in the
incident
have
been
reported,
a
spokesperson
for the
City of
Toronto
said in
an email
to the
Star.
They
added
incident
leading
to the
outage
may have
been
caused
by a
subcontractor
to
Southland-Astaldi
Joint
Venture
(SAJV),
a
construction
contractor
the city
hired to
replace
a
wastewater
pipe at
the
Ashbridges
Bay
Treatment
Plant in
Scarborough.
“The
City has
launched
a full
investigation
and has
requested
a full
report
from
SAJV to
understand
what
happened
and what
needs to
be done
to
ensure
this
does not
happen
again,”
the
spokesperson
wrote.
Hydro
One and
Toronto
Hydro
ask
anyone
still
without
power to
call a
dispatch
team at
416-542-8000.
—with
files
from
Ghada
Alsharif
and Ben
Spurr
JOIN THE
CONVERSATION
Anyone
can read
Conversations,
but to
contribute,
you
should
be
registered
Torstar
account
holder.
If you
do not
yet have
a
Torstar
account,
you can
create
one now
(it is
free)
Sign In
Register
Conversations
are
opinions
of our
readers
and are
subject
to the
Code of
Conduct.
The Star
does not
endorse
these
opinions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I
HI TECH NEWS
I
SPORTS
I
