Toronto Hydro working through the night to respond to emergency calls, approximately 264,000 customers without power

TORONTO, Dec. 22, 2013 /CNW/ - Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited (Toronto Hydro) is reporting that approximately 264,000 customers are without power, which is down from the 300,000 impacted during the height of the storm.

The utility continues to monitor the weather closely and we anticipate that more outages could be reported as tree limbs continue to fall onto power lines.

Some customers have been without power for an extended period of time.  Toronto Hydro is urging those unaffected to "share the power" with friends and family and recommends that people make arrangements to go where there is power. There are a number of customers who may have special needs or are elderly; Toronto Hydro asks that residents check on their neighbours.

The City of Toronto's Office of Emergency Management has set up reception centres and these will be open all night.  For more information, please visit the City's website at www.toronto.ca

Call Centre Remains Overwhelmed

Customers may continue to experience difficulty reporting outages as a result of the volume of calls.  At this time, Toronto Hydro asks that people keep the lines available for emergency calls related to downed wires only.

Toronto Hydro crews are working on public safety calls first, then on to restore priority customers such as hospitals, city services and TTC.  All available resources have been deployed and crews are working as quickly as possible to restore power.

Please be patient as crews work to restore power.  The nature of this type of restoration work is challenging.

If you spot a downed wire, please stay back (at least 10 feet) and report it to 911 or to Toronto Hydro's operations centre at 416-542-8000.

For more information about household items to have on hand during a lengthy outage, please visit torontohydro.com/poweroutage

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SOURCE: Toronto Hydro Corporation

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Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited.   
C: 416-903-6845