Update at 2:40 p.m.
Hydro One is now reporting on its Storm Centre website that it estimates power will be restored at 8 p.m. in several areas, including Lively, Naughton, Dowling and Onaping. This morning, the utility had predicted power would be restored by 4 p.m. That's still the case in other areas of the city.
Original story:
About 9,000 Hydro One customers were without power in the Greater Sudbury area as of about 9 a.m. this morning in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm Thursday afternoon.
That includes people mostly in the outskirts of the city, including the Walden, Valley East and Coniston areas.
Hydro One spokesperson Nancy Clark said the utility hopes to have power restored the majority of customers by about 4 p.m. this afternoon.
“That's representative from numerous outages,” she said.
“We're seeing a lot of tree damage and lines down from ... last night, and our crews are working all through the day today to try to restore customers as quickly as possible.”
If people are wondering about the estimated restoration time in their area, visit Hydro One's Storm Centre website, or download the app on your smartphone.
For its part, Greater Sudbury Hydro said this morning that power had been restored to the majority of customers. Spokesperson Wendy Watson said at the height of the storm, about 15,000 customers lost power.
The majority of the problem was the loss of power from transmission lines operated by Hydro One.
Watson said the utility was able to reroute power from another source to power the West End, South End and downtown areas of the city after the Clarabelle transmission line lost power.
A Hydro One transmission line in the Coniston area also went down, and it took longer — until about 5:30 a.m. Friday — to restore power there.
So why was Greater Sudbury Hydro able to restore power to the majority of customers, while thousands of Hydro One customers are still without electricity today?
“Hydro One has a lot of more rural properties, and they don't have as many staff on the ground and available in this area as we do,” Watson said. “We're dealing with the distribution stuff, and they're dealing with both distribution and transmission.”
There are still a few Greater Sudbury Hydro customers without power because of downed power lines or trees on power lines, Watson said.
She urges those customers to phone their distribution company — whether that's Greater Sudbury Hydro or Hydro One — to let them know.
Watson also said people should stay away from damaged power lines.
“It's not going to be a shock like you get from an outlet in your house,” she said. “It is deadly. Keep your pets away, keep your kids away.”
