After the ice storm
Last week’s ice storm impacted hundreds of thousands of customers in the region, including customers in every corner of our ward served by both Hydro One and Hydro Ottawa. The number of hydro staff, contractors and third-party partners brought in to restore power was only second to last May’s Derecho.
I would like to thank everyone who assisted in restoring power and supporting residents. Line workers, 311 staff, first responders, City crews, community volunteers, and many more worked tirelessly throughout the long weekend to help our communities.
Clean up efforts
The primary focus of the City is in supporting and facilitating the work of Forestry Services.
If you are aware of downed or damaged trees, need assistance in cleaning up trees, brush, limbs, and branches, or would like to request chipping or collection assistance, residents are encouraged to submit a request with 311.
Tree cuttings, branches and brush may be placed at the curb for chipping or collection, separate from non-organic waste and tied with twine in bundles, if possible. Residents are reminded to not stack or lean branches, limbs or brush on trees, utility poles or other structures, and to keep curbside waste materials at least 1.5 metres away from fire hydrants to ensure access for our firefighters.
Please keep in mind that the City has received thousands of requests for assistance with trees, branches, and brush. Staff are doing their best to manage these requests and are triaging them based on need. Staff have indicated that the clean up work will be a multi-week effort. Residents’ patience is greatly appreciated as staff continue to engage in clean up work.
Additionally, for the time being, tipping fees at the Trail Road dump have been waved; the facility is open Monday to Friday from 7 am to 6 pm this Saturday from 8 am to 4 pm.
A reminder: Property owners do not need a permit to remove dead or hazardous trees on their private property where the tree is an immediate threat to public health and safety. Photos should be taken prior to removal of dead or hazardous trees in such cases to provide evidence of the condition of the tree and the reason for exemption.
Long-term mitigation
Residents shared a number of concerns with me about how the ice storm was managed. Some of our communities were among the last to be restored to service, having gone many days without power. Other vulnerable populations, such as residents of retirement homes, took far too long to be restored. In many cases, residents who rely on sump pumps and well water had to deal with flooding or the risk of flooding as they were waiting for hydro distributors who prioritized urban and suburban customers. Many residents were unsure where to turn to for accurate updates, where to report issues on their properties and in their communities, and when they might reasonably expect to be restored to service.
These are but a few examples of the most common challenges that I have heard from residents. I believe that these issues merit a hard look from the City and the distributors that serve our communities.
To that end, I am currently drafting a letter to the City, Hydro One, and Hydro Ottawa to identify these challenges and propose solutions. It is my hope that by working together, we can improve how these kinds of contingencies are managed and use the time we have between storms to learn and prepare better for the next event. All partners in managing these kinds of outage emergencies have a role to play in developing better solutions; I look forward to doing my part to advance solutions to the problems raised by our community.