With the weekend about to dawn, Greater Sudbury Hydro announced around 9:30 p.m. last night that all poles and primary power lines damaged in Monday's storm have been restored and are in service.
The power is on, folks. The last section, a portion of Woodbine Avenue was restored at 9:28 p.m. on July 12.
Although poles are up and lines are energized, there are still some customers with no electricity. GSU said those customers are waiting on electricians to repair their service masts (the point where the power line connects to the house, a piece of equipment owned by the property owner, not the utility) or ESA authorization to connect.
"We suspect that might be about 30 customers," GSU said in a news release Thursday night. "We will continue working through the list of authorizations Friday morning."
If you are a GSU customer and have an reconnection authorization in hand, or if your mast is functional but you don't have power, call the public utility directly to arrange for reconnection. The number is 705-675-7536.
With the work mostly done, crews from visiting utilities that have been working to help GSI restore power are readying to head home.
"We want to thank Lakeland Power from Huntsville, Sault Ste. Marie PUC and North Bay Hydro as well as forestry crews from Arborworks in West Nipissing for sending assistance," GSU stated in the news release. "Those crews will helping with some clean up tomorrow morning before they head home. Their help was invaluable."
The utility also thanked customers for their patience.
"We also thank everyone for their patience during this very trying week. Hopefully things can begin to get back to normal for all affected."
By dinner time on Thursday, power had been restored to Grandview, Chestnut, Moss, Beaumont, Davenport and Barrydowne early this afternoon, while Cardinal, Normandy and the east side of Montrose were to follow shortly after.
"We also anticipate the rest of Agincourt, the west side of Montrose, and Kipling will follow in hours," said a release from Greater Sudbury Hydro just before 5 p.m. on July 12, which also said GSU is confident crews can get all the lines up and power back on by the weekend.
Customers are being urged to check their masts, and if there is and doubt, call an electrician now, to minimize the delay in getting power back on in your home.
Also, be sure all stoves, ovens, irons, curling and flat irons and any other electrically powered heating equipment are turned off or unplugged before the power is restored.
Clean up continues
There's still a great deal of debris to clean up.
Normally, brush would need to be cut and bundled if a homeowner wanted to leave debris at the curb. However, with so much debris to clean up, the city is waiving the bundling requirement for residents clearing storm debris.
Simply cut branches and limbs to four or five feet in length and pile by the curb.
It may take city crews some time to pick up, given the sheer amount, but workers will be going street to street, and continuing to circulate through the neighbourhoods in the coming days until debris has been cleared.
City staff are working 13-hour days to pick up and transport debris to the landfill.
The landfill is very busy with crews dropping off loads of debris for disposal. The city is asking residents who can avoid going to local landfills, to do so so as not to overwhelm landfill staff and to keep the line moving as quickly as possible.
The longer the line up, the longer it will take to clear debris from storm-damaged neighbourhoods.
If you can avoid or delay going, the city asks that you do so.
Also, If you have spoiled food to dispose of, the city is asking that you not put it at the curb. Leaving spoiled food at the curb for extended periods of time in this heat will attract bears and other wildlife.
If you have spoiled food to dispose off, phone the city at 3-1-1 to make arrangements for city staff to pick up the food.
