May 27 evening update from Councillor Gower on power situation, storm clean-up and need for volunteers

Lesley McKay

Ten.  We’re down to ten streets that we know do not have power yet in Stittsville. So we’re in much better shape than we were a couple days ago. But city-wide, there are still 29,000 customers without power from Hydro Ottawa, and more that are waiting to be reconnected by Hydro One. This is now seven days without power, a real emergency for many in our community. The scale of destruction from this storm is massive.

These images show the white board in my office at CARDELREC and what we’ve been focused on today. There’s also a list of the ten streets without power. We’ve dropped off flyers and visited residents on each of these streets over the past 72 hours.

I spent this afternoon with my team on three of the streets without power in Stittsville: Lazy Nol, Hartin, and Johnwoods. We checked in to make sure residents are ok and to make sure people have support. In general, everyone was in good spirits but understandably impatient about the ongoing outage.

You learn a lot about a street by knocking on doors and talking to neighbours. We met Rudy, who has lived on Hartin for 50 years. A former deputy fire chief, he says the road used to be known as RR#3 Carp. They were supplied by Arnprior Power prior to Hydro Ottawa. He pointed us to the house next door where a tree has fallen on wires – likely the cause of the outage for residents on Hartin and Johnwoods.

We saw another tree with lightning damage – one of three that I’m aware of in the same area. I’m increasingly worried about all the damaged trees still standing, especially with today’s winds.

On Johnwoods, some homes are without power, while others with wires connecting them to the east side of the street are back on.  It’s frustrating for residents when the house next to you is on and you still are not.

I stopped by Joe Lewis park in Potter’s Key early this morning. It’s a very special park full of pines and birch trees. Sadly, there are many trees down here. Parents, please remind your kids to be cautious in these areas. There are many damaged trees and there is a risk of injury. We will get trees cleaned up from parks and pathways in the coming days. This will take some time.

More community kindness on display: Last night on Brae Street I ran into Holly, who owns Synerg-G Massage & Wellness. Her power at home was out and she was on her way to run a load of laundry at her clinic on Stittsville Main. She says if any residents in the community need help with laundry to contact the clinic. She’s happy to help. Thanks Holly!

We decided to postpone today’s park naming ceremony at Lee Boltwood Park in Abbottsville Crossing. The forecast was calling for rain and thunderstorms, and given the ongoing emergency situation we thought it was the right thing to do. We’ll find a new date soon. Please send positive thoughts for Lee – sadly, she lost several big trees at her home on Stittsville Main Street during the storm.

Hydro Restoration –
I don’t have a specific update about when power will be fully restored in Stittsville, but we will continue to share any updates that we receive from Hydro Ottawa.

At today’s media update, Bryce Conrad from Hydro Ottawa says that they will not meet the commitment to have everyone’s power restored by end of day today, owing to the weather this morning and the level of additional damage that we are finding to our equipment.

“If your neighbours across the street have power and you don’t, please be patient. It may simply be that they are energized from a different feeder than you. Again, you are not forgotten, it’s just the nature of a large and complex distribution system,” he said.

“We know you are there. We know that you are counting on us and we will restore your power.”

Crews are in Stittsville. I did see trucks on Shea Road today from Holland Power Services – those large trucks with the big bucket arms. They were repairing downed wires on Shea Road, presumably the lines that feed CARDELREC and Sacred Heart High School. CARDELREC is still on generator power, and Sacred Heart remains closed to students.

I spoke with the driver in one of the trucks, who said he’s here from Halifax to help. “We’re trying to get everyone back on,” he said.

CARDELREC (1500 Shea Road) will remain open 10am-10pm Saturday and Sunday as an emergency reception centre, albeit with services scaled back somewhat due to decreased demand. Recharge your device, get a warm shower, check in with City staff.  There are still many people dropping in here, including residents from Kanata and nearby rural areas who are still without power.

Thank you to volunteers who are helping to staff my ward office at CARDELREC this weekend to give my regular team a well-deserved break over the weekend.

Please note, the large food waste bins at CARDELREC will leaving on Saturday. Best to drop off items tonight, or early Saturday morning.

The City’s landfill at the Trail Waste Facility (4475 Trail Road) is offering extended hours to accommodate special collections and will waive tipping fees for residents with storm-related materials.

City trucks are still picking up branches and debris left from trees. This will take weeks, not days.

Volunteers needed to help with storm cleanup

On Saturday and Sunday, volunteers of all abilities are needed to help with cleanup projects across the city as a result of the May 21 storm. Much like the usual Cleaning the Capital program, this is an ideal way for neighbours, families and friends to work together to clean up their neighbourhood. Participants are asked to complete the electronic registration form. Supplies will be available for pickup as of Saturday, May 28, between 10 am and 10 pm, at the CARDELREC Recreation Complex (Goulbourn), 1500 Shea Road.

The City in partnership with Samaritan’s Purse, a non-government organization (NGO), will provide support to residents who have been impacted on their private property. To inquire about projects that can use your specialized skills, please contact Samaritan’s Purse at 1-844-547-2663 or samaritanspurse.ca/ottawavolunteer (service in English only). 

Volunteers are asked to bring the following:

  • weather-appropriate clothing that may get dirty, wet, or damaged
  • work gloves if you have them, otherwise they can be provided
  • close-toed footwear (ideally steel-toed boots)

Please do not bring your own equipment or tools to a Samaritan’s Purse project.

Samaritan’s Purse is a member of the NGO Ontario Alliance that helps people in communities around the world, regardless of religious affiliation, to rebuild and recover from crises and was a community partner with the City of Ottawa during the 2019 Flood and the 2018 Tornado recoveries. 

Updates about the daily need for volunteers will be made through daily announcements, through the City’s website, ottawa.ca, and the City’s social media channels on Twitter and Facebook. You do not need to have a Twitter or Facebook account to access these pages. Please monitor these channels for updates.

Contact us
The best way to reach me and my team is by email at glen.gower@ottawa.ca or by phone at 613-580-2476 (please leave a message if we cannot answer).

My team has actioned over 200 emails, phone calls and messages over the past week to help connect residents with the help they need. That’s in addition to our regular casework and all of the encouraging messages we’ve received as well. Thank you for that – it keeps our team motivated! A big thanks to my team for their work this week: Amélie, Catherine, Jordan, Isobel, Tracy and Aline.

A reminder: please be kind to my staff, city staff, hydro staff, and everyone else who is working hard right now to help out.

We are providing updates several ways:

I have been sharing these updates in English only to get them out as fast as possible. There is bilingual information available at Ottawa.ca. Les mis-à-jours sont disponibles à ottawa.ca.

Stay safe, and take care! – Councillor Glen

More Information / plus d’information:

SHARE THIS

Leave a Reply