TORONTO – Police will be canvassing apartment buildings Thursday, looking for vulnerable residents who require assistance because of the prolonged power outages.
Today will be the second day of door-to-door canvasses after members of the police department visited six apartment buildings in the Don Mills Road and Sheppard Avenue East area on Wednesday. About 50 residents, mostly senior citizens, were helped from their apartment and relocated to warming and reception centres on the first day.
Toronto Police Services said in a statement that they are working with several partners, including Toronto Hydro, to track down vulnerable residents without power. They are also asking Toronto residents for their help.
“Anyone with neighbours who are elderly or have mobility issues is encouraged to check in on them and ensure their well-being,” said Mark Pugash, Director Corporate Communications, in a statement.
Thirteen additional warming centres have been made available at TPS buildings.
Click here for a list of all warming centres available in the GTA.
Additional hydro crews from Manitoba, Ottawa, Windsor and the United States have been called in to help Toronto restore power. But, officials still do not have a firm estimate as to when hydro services will be back to normal.
“We’re doing everything in our power to get the hydro back to everybody as soon as possible,” said Deputy Fire Chief Mike McCoy. “We’d like to say this will be done tomorrow, that’s not going to happen. We’re going to aim, do our very best for Thursday or Friday.
Toronto Fire Chief Jim Sales said they’ve had about 1,712 calls, nearly twice what the normal volume might be.
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Close to 300,000 Toronto Hydro customers were without power at the height of the storm but as of Thursday, that number has been reduced to 54,000.
During a press conference on Thursday, Toronto Hydro CEO Anthony Haines said power restoration efforts were approximately 82 per cent complete.
“We have two 12-hour shifts a day and we will not stop until the power’s back on,” Haines said.
–With files from James Armstrong and Andrew Russell
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