WHITBY, ONT.—Whitby Hydro is working to restore power to about 60 customers still affected by an outage in the northeast portion of the town.
The utility company posted on Twitter around 2:30 a.m. on Thursday that about 11,000 homes and businesses were without electricity in an area bordered by Hwy. 407 south to Rossland Road, and east-west from Hwy. 12 to Garrard Road.
“Whitby Hydro crews responded immediately and were able to restore power to almost all customers by approximately 6:30 a.m.,” the company noted in a release issued shortly before 11 a.m. on Dec. 28.
“The cause of the outage is weather related. All available crews are working on restoring electricity to customers. It is estimated that power will be fully restored later in the day.”
Some customers took to Twitter to report intermittent power outages using the hashtag #whitbyhydro as early as Wednesday evening. One noted that it had been the fourth time there had been an incident that day.
Requests for comment from Whitby Hydro representatives were not returned.
Whitby Hydro Energy Corporation is a holding company owned by the Town of Whitby. The utility distributes electricity to more than 40,000 homes and businesses in Whitby and the Brooklin area.
The town has posted a notice on its website warning residents about the extreme cold weather that’s expected to last several days. Current temperatures sit at about -30 C with the wind chill.
“Warnings are issued when cold temperatures or wind chill increase health risks,” the notice said.
“Due to extreme cold temperatures, there is an increased risk of hypothermia and frostbite. Health Canada offers several tips to help you stay safe such as dressing in layers, covering exposed skin and limiting time outdoors.”