Toronto Hydro crews continued the long process of reconnecting homes to electricity on Sunday as people left without power by a storm and freezing rain last week became increasingly impatient.
High winds combined with snow and freezing rain on Thursday night to knock down trees and power lines, severing connections for tens of thousands of customers in the Greater Toronto Area.
Round the clock efforts by Toronto Hydro crews restored power to all but about 5,000 on Saturday. By Sunday afternoon, that number shrank to 2,000 customers without power, according to Toronto Hydro.
The company had 43 crews doing repair work around the city all day Sunday. It was a tiring experience for crews which have been on the job for 18 to 24-hour shifts.
"Yeah we're getting tired," Toronto Hydro crew member Jim Sopik said. "We're getting breaks in between but it's not like an eight hour break ... you just get four or five hours and then right back at it again."
Toronto Hydro expected to have all customers back online late in the day or early Monday morning.
For people who were still waiting on Sunday, the situation was frustrating.
"There are a lot of people feeling very frustrated," Jennifer Edgar told the Toronto Star. She added that there are a lot of senior citizens on her street.
Toronto Hydro said Sunday morning that remaining service calls are "related to wires down and tree damage affecting small numbers of customers or single buildings."
The company added that restoring power in these circumstances takes longer as crews work first on cleaning up tree branches and then tackle the repairs.
"This is slowing down efforts although we are making steady progress," a written statement said.
Toronto Hydro asked anyone who notices a downed or low-hanging power line to stay clear and call (416) 542-8000.
Outside of Toronto, thousands more waited all day to get electricity restored.
About 80,000 Hydro One customers were left without power Friday morning as a result of the storm. By Sunday morning, that number had been pared down to just 4,000 customers still waiting for power to be restored.
"We should have the bulk of those back on tonight," Hydro One spokesperson Daffyd Roderick told CTV's Tim Weber on Sunday.
He added that anytime freezing rain and winds combine there will be problems with the electrical distribution system. In this situation, ice and wind did considerable damage, according to Roderick.
"In one section ... more than 25 poles in a row were torn to the ground," Roderick said.
Thursday night's dose of freezing rain, wind and more left a dazzling silver sheen on just about every surface in the city. But the heavy coating of ice soon started to cause trouble.
Besides the snapped trees and electrical lines, city residents suddenly discovered dangers falling from above.
Large chunks of ice began falling from office towers in the city's downtown core. Enormous sheets of ice were seen peeling away from the side of the CN Tower. In response, police closed dozens of downtown streets and cordoned off the area immediately surrounding the CN Tower.
The falling ice hazard continued into Saturday. The area around Toronto's most famous freestanding structure was expected to remain closed until sometime Sunday night.
"There is a fair amount of ice still on the tower and obviously we're concerned that it could come down," Toronto police Staff-Sgt. Greg Cole said Saturday.
With a report from CTV's MairiAnna Bachynsky and files from The Canadian Press
