Ice storm cleanup enters 6th day, full power still not restored

More than 25,000 Toronto Hydro customers remain without power after an epic ice storm, and there are now concerns that high winds and rapid melting could create even more outages.

Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for the City of Toronto, warning that falling ice could pose a danger.

Strong wind gusts expected overnight could also result in more falling branches and downed wires.

Crews have been working around the clock to restore power and clean fallen branches.

Toronto Hydro CEO Anthony Haines called the storm is the “largest in Toronto Hydro’s history” and city officials say 20 per cent of Toronto’s tree canopy has been lost due to storm.

“We are still saying prepare for the worst,” Toronto Hydro spokeswoman Tanya Bruckmueller told CityNews on Friday. “A lot of streets, we still can’t get down because of the large trees that have come down.”

In Mississauga, up to 15 streets remain partially blocked with tree debris.

As of Friday night, 25,750 Toronto Hydro customers were still without power.

It’s still not yet known when power will be fully restored.

Meanwhile, Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly said he’s concerned about the strain to the 2014 budget due to the cleanup cost. He has no numbers yet but did say that the massive flood on July 8 already zapped the majority of funds.

The snow has hampered relief efforts, she explained. It has added additional weight to trees that are already heavy to ice and it covers everything that hydro crews are looking for, like live wires.

“It also presented issues with access and safety for customers,” Bruckmueller said.

Click here for a list of certified electrical workers that can help reconnect private hydro lines, like stand pipes.

Mayor Rob Ford said that as of 11 a.m. Friday, 450 people were using warming centres and 90 intersections were without power.

The Toronto District School Board has closed 180 of its child care facilities due to damage from the ice storm, with closures also extending to permit holders. Daycares at three Catholic schools are also closed.

Click here for a full list of cancellations and closures.

Click here for our ice storm live blog, with real-time updates from CityNews meteorologists.

Ford said the city has been receiving a lot of questions about what to do with damaged trees. He explained that a city permit is not needed to remove a damaged tree from private property.

Scarborough remains one of the hardest-hit areas. Click here for an interactive outage map from Toronto Hydro.

Hydro One, which serves 1.3-million customers in Ontario, saw fluctuations in its recovery efforts. As of Friday night, 2,700 customers were without power.

Toronto police are also offering shelter in 13 of their buildings. Click here for a list of warming centres.

At the height of the storm more than 400,000 customers lost their electricity — three quarters of them in southern Ontario. The storm also damaged Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

“We’re reaching the point that is the hand-to-hand combat of it,” Haines told reporters Thursday morning.

“This last bit is going to be a lot of heavy lifting. It’s going to be one truck and one service line.”