What’sworking,what’snotinOntario

Power is returning to pockets of Southern Ontario and parts of New York state, but the enormous blackout that struck the region on the afternoon of August 14th is far from over.

Officials with power companies say the power grid has to be brought back on line slowly and carefully.

In Ontario, Premier Ernie Eves declared a state of emergency for the entire province, telling all non-essential and non-emergency workers to stay home.

Advice to citizens:

• Provincial officials and emergency workers are asking citizens to do the following:

Stay home and off the road if you are a non-emergency and non-essential worker.

Businesses should close for the day.

Use less power by leaving air conditioners off, not turning on the television or doing laundry.

Portal fans may be used.

Conserve water and don’t water the lawn.

Don’t use candles for lighting, due to the danger of fires.

Don’t call 911 to report power outages, call only for emergency purposes.

Communication:

• Bell Canada says all of its networks are working and approximately 99 percent of customers have service. However, Bell is encouraging customers not to use their cell phones or landlines to call to or from the blackout areas, except for emergencies.

Canada Post is offering some delivery services to Ontario residents in areas where power has been restored. In all regions outside of Ontario, Canada Post is operating normally however all inbound and outbound Ontario mail is affected.

Transportation:

• TTC:
  The Toronto Transit Commission will not be running subways until Monday. Some streetcars are running. TTC buses are running along some subway routes. Wheel-Trans is offering limited service for essential trips.

Air:
Air Canada has cancelled all flights to Canadian and American destinations a until at least 4 p.m. ET. Air Canada Jazz is operating as usual although passengers can expect delays. WestJet is expected to resume some flights out of Hamilton, Toronto and Ottawa as of Friday afternoon. Expect delays. Major airports are operating in Ontario however there are major delays. Airports are telling travelers to call their airline before coming to the airport.

Rail:
GO Transit has limited bus service but no rail service.
VIA Rail Canada expects to operate all regular passenger trains on the following routes:
»Windsor-London-Brantford-Toronto
»Sarnia-London-Kitchener-Toronto
»Niagara Falls-Toronto
»Toronto-Kingston-Ottawa
»Toronto-Kingston-Montreal

Water:

• Most locks and swing bridges on the Trent-Severn Waterway will not operate until further notice. Some manual locks along the Otanabee River (Peterborough to Lakefield) and Talbot River (Bolsover to Lake Simcoe) may operate to accommodate local traffic.

Government services:

• Ontario power outage information line: 1-800-268-1154

Government of Ontario offices are closed on Friday. Critical government services such as those provided by the Ontario Provincial Police, ambulance dispatch, psychiatric hospitals and correctional facilities are operating.

Many municipal services and government offices will be closed. No marriage licenses or building permits will be issued and garbage pickup is cancelled Friday. For information about city services call Access Toronto 416-338-0338.

Ontario Courts will remain open today. However, individuals in areas affected by the blackout who do not make their court dates will be automatically remanded to Monday, August 18, 2003. Further information may be available from local court offices.

Health:

• For health concerns, call Telehealth Ontario at: 1-866-797-0000 or TTY at 1-877-797-0007

For Ontario hospitals contact list online, visit: http://www.oha.com/oha/ohawebpg.nsf/(wv)/v4i?OpenDocument

The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto has cancelled all out-patient clinic appointments and elective surgery for Friday. The Emergency Department remains open.

North York General has cancelled elective surgery at both the General and Branson locations.

Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital, and Princess Margaret Hospital are providing services for patients on Friday. Clinic appointments, physician appointments, emergency and elective procedures are continuing, with some delays. The emergency departments remain open. However visitors are asked not to come to the hospital unless necessary.

Shoppers Drug Mart stores in areas without power remain open for emergency needs. Prescriptions, baby formula, batteries and other essentials are available for those in urgent need. Customers are advised to go directly to the store in their area for assistance at the door.

Food:

• Many grocery stores in the power outage areas are closed on Friday. Stores including Loblaws, Zehrs, Fortinos and Sobey’s remain without power or are trying to restock perishable goods that are spoiled. Some of the stores are expected to open for the weekend.

The Red Cross says that perishable foods should not be held unchilled for more than two hours. Most areas Thursday night were affected for more than five hours, so even perishable foods keep in the cool fridge should be thrown out.

Business:

• Many bank branches are closed on Friday. CIBC says it is keeping most branches in Toronto, Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, Cambridge and Ottawa closed. But TD Bank says any Ontario branches with power were open Friday if possible, and more were expected to be open for regular hours on Saturday.

The Toronto Stock Exchange opened at it’s usual time of 9:30 a.m. All North American exchanges opened for business as usual although traders are expecting a quiet trading day.

Entertainment:

• Canadian National Exhibition will open Monday instead of Friday.

Ontario Place and the Toronto Zoo are closed.

Education:

• Many Ontario colleges and universities are closed including all three University of Toronto campuses, York, Ryerson, McMaster, Humber and Centennial College.

In Toronto:

• toronto.cbc.ca has the details

In Ottawa:

• ottawa.cbc.ca has the details

Contact info:

• Power outage general information line: 1-800-268-1154

Air Canada flight information: 1-888-422-7533

Flight status: Air Canada web site

VIA Rail: 1-888-VIA-RAIL (1-888-842-7245)

Toronto services: Access Toronto 416-338-0338