A white Christmas came as cold comfort to thousands of people in the GTA who are spending the holiday in cold homes with no heat or electricity for the fourth day in a row following a massive ice storm.
Residents got some reprieve Wednesday morning as temperatures lifted a little to a high of – 4 C, prompting the city to cancel an extreme cold weather alert issued Tuesday, when temperatures dipped as low as -17 C.
The city also announced that 69,800 Toronto Hydro customers are now without power as of 5 p.m., down from 300,000 at the height of the power outages.
“This has been a very challenging four days,” Mayor Rob Ford said at a news conference at city hall Wednesday morning.
Flanked by emergency officials and city staff, Ford said city crews are still working around the clock to bring the city back online, as thousands of people spend the holidays in the dark.
However there were stark reminders that aside from being an uncomfortable nuisance, the power outages have prompted some people to take desperate measures.
Two adults and two small children were taken to hospital early Wednesday to be treated for carbon monoxide poisoning after they tried to heat their home by burning charcoal indoors.
Toronto Fire Services and Toronto EMS said Wednesday that they’ve seen a skyrocketing number of calls over the last few days, with many calls about carbon monoxide, including two fatalities on Tuesday.
Officials are pleading with the public not to heat their homes by burning fossil fuels or using generators indoors in an unsafe manner.
“I think people still need to hear the message that devices that are made for outdoor use like your charcoal BBQs, gas powered BBQs, generators – please keep them outside,” said Toronto Fire Chief Jim Sales. “I realize and understand the situation with cold homes, but please do not make your homes more unsafe.”
Toronto Hydro CEO Anthony Haines also pleaded with residents to keep safety in mind, warning people only to use qualified, certified electricians to repair electric stacks on private property.
Haines said hydro crews will only reconnect a home once they have verified that the electrical work done on private property was carried out by a qualified electrician.
Power slowly coming back online outside of Toronto
North of the city in York region, PowerStream reported its number of customers without power was down to 6,400 early Wednesday morning.
In other communities across the province, Hydro One said some 25,000 of its customers are still without power.
Officials reiterated that warming centres remain open for those who do not have heat.
Mayor Ford also said the city is in need of food donations at community centres where people are seeking shelter.
Speaking to reporters, Ford also said he was right not to declare a state of emergency for the city, saying Toronto is “not even close to a state of emergency.”
"We are doing very well with the conditions we're dealing with," Ford said, speaking to his decision not to declare a state of emergency. “We don't want to panic people.”
Premier Kathleen Wynne also spoke Wednesday, saying that all provincial resources have been deployed to assist municipalities, regardless of whether a state of emergency has been declared.
She said she herself only got power back today and she urged residents to continue checking in on elderly neighbours and others who may need assistance.
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