York Region hardest hit by ‘hurricane force winds’; about 400 Alectra Utilities customers remain without power

York had 79,000 of 120,000 Alectra customers hit with power outages during severe May 21 storm

Thestar.com
May 25, 2022
Lisa Queen

York Region was hardest hit by power outages by the severe storm May 21 and about 400 customers remain without power as of the morning of May 24, Alectra Utilities spokesperson John Friesen said.

At least nine people are reported to have died as a result of the storm.

Almost 120,000 Alectra customers in Markham, Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Aurora, Guelph, Rockwood, Hamilton, Flamborough, Mississauga and Brampton lost power, Friesen said.

“Specifically, York Region was the hardest hit, with more than 79,000 customers out across Markham, Vaughan, Richmond Hill and Aurora at the height of the storm. By Sunday morning that number was reduced to 9,500 and then 4,500 as of Monday morning,” he said.

“Alectra crews worked day and night with additional crews called in from other parts of our service territory to assist. The damage was substantial as a result of ‘hurricane force winds’ in excess of 120km/h that caused a great deal of destruction. In some cases, we needed to rebuild entire pole lines, while addressing hundreds of separate incidents to ensure public safety.”

Alectra has restored most customers, with just over 400 still out Tuesday morning.

“We continue to address isolated outages across parts of York Region and Brampton that are still out,” Friesen said.

The most up-to-date outage numbers are:
Aurora: 134
Markham: 135
Richmond Hill: 39
Vaughan: 56
Brampton: 42

Some customers may have experienced damage to their customer-owned equipment.

If the service stack on the residence is damaged, an electrician must fix it and an ESA (Electrical Safety Authority) inspection must be conducted before Alectra is able to re-energize.

York Region expects to provide an update on the storm this morning.