Hydro crews in Simcoe County and surrounding areas have been working to restore power all day to thousands of homes and business after Friday’s wind storm.
“Just wind damage, there’s lots of it around town. A lot of fences down, a lot of shingles missing, it’s crazy,” says Shane Yeo, who owns a business in Barrie’s south end.
InnPower Corporation expected to have power fully restored earlier this afternoon, but delays pushed back restoration time for about 1,000 customers in Innisfil until 9 p.m. Saturday.
“A lot of challenges right now are fires. We’re finding that now during the day, a lot of the branches are falling on the lines and causing fires,” says Danny Persaud from InnPower.
The clean-up will likely take days. Cindy DeAngelis and her son can’t get off their property because of downed power lines circling their driveway. “We just want to get out so we can go somewhere and do something, but now we’re stuck,” she says.
Crews from the Town of Innisfil have also been out since the storm started, and they’re asking people to be patient.
“It will leak into next week for sure. Our priority right now is making sure the roads are open,” says Jason Innwood.
Until then, people are cleaning up their yards, assessing the damage, and hoping for some relief in the days ahead.
Meanwhile, students from Barrie North Collegiate Institute are frustrated after their prom was cancelled last night due to a power outage at their venue.
Grade 12 student, Cali Kaye, says she's frustrated that she and the rest of her graduating class won't get the night they've been waiting four years to experience.
Kaye says the power was out when students and organizers arrived at the country club last night. They were told hydro crews had been called in to get the lights back on, but by 8 p.m. they were still in the dark, and subsequently sent home.
School principal Greg Brucker says he's working with the venue and the prom committee to determine the next steps.
"I feel very sad for our students and organizers, as they put a tremendous amount of effort into the event," Brucker says.