City
Blackout Toronto, Mid-Winter Freeze Edition.
Toronto's west side is currently going on 5 hours without power. The Star (the only major media outlet to get the full story out early) reports that the blackout started around 10pm when there was a flood in a power facility at Dufferin & Bloor. A short-circuit there managed to leave a massive chunk of the city without electricity. We're talking Queen West to St Clair, Jane Street to Spadina, almost completely in the dark.
With temperatures dropping to nearly -30 with the windchill overnight, it was hardly the kind of evening you want to go without heating either.
Sitting in the middle of it all at Lansdowne & Dupont, I lucked out. My building had power. I only realized what was going down an hour into it when I started getting calls from friends in blankets, reaching out via cell phone. At that point, I peeked through the blinds to see nothing but blackness on the street below (pictured above). Even the streetlight right outside my window was out.
There was only one thing to do -- I sent out an invite to all those I knew were affected, set up the futon and made some coffee. Most tried to stick it out at home, while a few realized they really wanted a warm shower before work tomorrow and caught a cab or bus over (as the TTC couldn't keep the Bloor subway line powered into the night).
Then the rest of the evening was spent keeping up to speed via Twitter and sending SMS updates to friends and family who were stuck wondering how long the chill was going to last.
Hopefully by the time you read this, it'll be morning and your clocks will be flashing 12:00, 12:00, 12:00. If, on the other hand, you're reading this at work while layering on the deodorant 'cause the power was still out at home... well, someone at Toronto Hydro seriously has some explainin' to do.
How did you survive the night? Let us know. Hey, and if you photographers out there managed to get some interesting long-exposure shots out your darkened windows, post them to the blogTO Flickr Pool. This dramatic shot was submitted by funkaoshi:
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Now my concern is for my wine cellar. If it freezes I'll cry. Years of effort and irreplaceables may be lost. :(
Some early news reports claim it could be another 18 hours before the situation is resolved! Yowzers!!!
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2009/01/16/to-power-outage.html
Don't forget to food safety during these power outages. My advice - use Mother Nature to your advantage and move your fridge/freezer contents outdoors ;)
It's funny because they used to be the same company. Now one continues to give the news, and the other one has become a <b>complete</b> joke.
*My favourite part was the 'could it happen to YOU?' addition
No photos from my end - I was practically surrounded by powered parts of the city! You wouldn't think anything was up.
City-tv site was sad but BT was fine.
Fingers Crossed.
After 11PM (and until 6AM) we have no support on citynews.ca. We did have some updates via Twitter. The truth is that the best way for people affected to get news was not the web or tv - it was the radio (and 680 did a hell of a job).
I think the TTC did a great job, even if the shuttle buses were filled to capacity, I have to hand it to the streetcar driver I had this morning down Bathurst in dealing with people who thought they were heading to Islington and others who had no idea what was going on with the power outage.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0
The advantage of the web over the radio is that you can pick and choose what news you want to see. If you turn on the radio a few minutes too late, you might miss an important news update which may not get repeated for another hour.
With the web, everything is laid out in front of you (well, should be on any well designed site) and you can pick and choose to read the headlines that of interest to you. There is no risk of missing information because your clock is 10 minutes slow.
The problem with citynews.ca is that editors and writers are <i>choosing</i> to submit <b>four</b> different top stories (and two web watches which may or may not link to the same story) on something that is completely irrelevant to 95% of Torontonians.*
That has little to do with limitations of technology, and more having to do with the ongoing problem of citynews trying to 'entertain' people with their headlines instead of informing people with them. Obviously a plane crash is exciting stuff, especially when the situation has played out like something from a movie, but at some point someone has to decide what is and isn't important to report on. Proper judgement is clearly lacking in this department.
*I'm flying to New York next month out of the Island Airport, so I'm about as relevant as it gets and I certainly don't need 4 separate articles on it, let alone ONE. Why would I get my international news from a Toronto news site? The header does say "Citynews: Toronto's News", does it not?
You'd think they could get some more shuttle buses when it is -20 out!!!!!
Maybe a backup plan for freezing customers.
Now i'm going to check up on friends in my area..
Remember back in the big 2003 blackout we were the very last ones in town to get our power back. Hope that doesnt happen again!
The beauty was lost on me about 2 hours after though.
Does anyone know if the power is back on around Dupont and Bathurst or Dupont and Christie? Thanks!
From what I'm hearing most of the area north of bloor, west of Keele is back.
Any word on Roncy and High Park Blvd? I guess they arer working their way south ...
Does anyone know if the Junction is powered up yet? I heard it won't be till tonight. I would love to get home and sleep in a proper bed my neck is soar from the rock hard couch. but I guess I should be grateful that we even have a a warm place to go when so many don't. keep warm everyone
Thermostat was reading 10 degrees last i checked.
Thanks :)
I have friends on the east side of dufferin just south of bloor ... thier power is back on as of 1:00
Any current word on the Sorauren/Roncy/Fern area? I had to bail with my two dogs to a cousin's place in Forest Hills this AM. Just too darn cold! And no internet to boot...
Thanks again, lk
Thank you kindly.
Yep, West side of Roncesvalles was OK, East side to about Lansdowne was dark. I saw that West Lodge Apts was ablaze as usual last night.
anyone hear anything yet? thanks!
I'm just northeast of you on Westmoreland between Davenport and Geary north of Dupont...just talked to Toronto Hydro, they have no update on the areas north of Dupont as of yet. Incredibly nice staff to speak to, but no info is frustrating.
It really freaked out my dogs too. They couldn't really understand why a woman in the ceiling was talking to them.
Can't get a hold of him at work, cell or home phone.....
Worried Mom
6:42 pm :does hydro restoration dance in the street:
One word for ya...
snotcicles.
(sorry for the visual)
The floor and anything metal or wooden was quite cold still, so the furnace probably didn't come back on until maybe an hour ago. The pilot light on the water tank was still on, which was a big plus. Not sure about all the frozen homemade meals I have in the freezer though.
Insurance Bureau of Canada to homeowners under blackout: Stay safe, check your coverage
TORONTO, Jan. 16 /CNW/ - With a large portion of Toronto experiencing a
major power failure, Insurance Bureau of Canada is urging homeowners to
contact their insurance professional to learn what sort of resulting losses
might be covered.
"But the first priority should be to make sure that you and your family
are safe, and to take precautions to keep your property safe," said Don
Forgeron, Vice-President, Ontario, IBC. "It's important that homeowners
understand what they need to do to protect their property. If damage does
occur, they should find out what their insurance policy will cover."
Homeowners should turn off the water supply to their home to prevent
pipes from bursting and avoid using candlelight, if possible. A flashlight is
a much safer alternative.
Homeowners' and tenant insurance policies generally cover the cost of
food that has spoiled during a power failure, and the cost of damage due to
pipes freezing and bursting. Some policies may cover the cost of temporary
additional living expenses, such as hotel charges, if occupants have to vacate
their premises due to damage. However we advise individuals to check with
their insurance representatives as soon as possible to discuss the
particulars.
"Home insurance coverage varies from policy to policy. The safest bet is
to contact your insurance representative directly," said Forgeron.
For general information, consumers can reach IBC's Consumer Information
Centre at 416-362-9528.
Insurance Bureau of Canada is the national industry association
representing Canada's private home, car and business insurers. Its member
companies represent nearly 95% of the property and casualty (P&C) insurance
market in Canada. The P&C insurance industry employs over 110,000 Canadians,
pays more than $6 billion in taxes to the federal, provincial and municipal
governments, and has a total premium base of $38 billion.
During a power outage, with the door kept closed food in the fridge is good for 4 hours, food in a full freezer 48 hours, half full freezer, 24 hours (Red Cross Website)
It was pretty brutal. It was bad the first night, but because our radiator was still hot it took a while to cool down, the day was bad too because I had to open the curtains to let in some light to save our flashlights and candles, so it let in a draft and it was bad, then the worst was when night hit again, it was so much colder than the night before.
Thank goodness the power came back on, I don't know what we would have done if we had to try and make it through the whole of the second night.