Canada: Southern Ontario blizzard disrupts life
Toronto, Apr 4 (IBNS): Southern Ontario was today hit by 90km/hr winds and blizzard that severed electricity to more than 100,000 people, felled trees and toppled a construction crane, besides causing a multi-vehicle pile-up in Barrie, forcing closure of Highway 400, media reports said.
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said that all lanes were reopened around 6pm.
OPP Sgt Peter Leon said that it was “one of the worst storms” he’s ever seen, calling driving conditions “treacherous”.
In Toronto, fire chief Matthew Pegg said firefighters were tackling dozens of incidents around the city, including downed electrical wires and transformer fires.
Toronto Hydro said this afternoon that there were at least 21,400 city customers without power, particularly in North York and Scarborough.
In Niagara, three model homes collapsed but no one was injured.
Hydro One, which provides electricity to many rural parts of Ontario, said that more than 80,000 customers were affected. Hydro Ottawa said that more than 3,000 lost power in Gloucester-Southgate but services had been restored.
The storm was caused by a Colorado low pressure system that was expected to intensify, Environment Canada said.
Tomorrow is expected to be sunny with a high of 4 degrees Celsius after the storm passes. There are chances of snow in the night into Friday morning.
The weather agency said the weekend will be chilly and a high of 2 degrees Celsius is expected on Monday.
(Reporting by Sayantan Banerjee)
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