A potent spring ice storm is forecast to begin this evening and continue into Monday, March 31. Significant ice build-up is expected from freezing rain, with accretion of up to 10 mm, and possible snow accumulations of 10 to 15 cm, with the potential to bring trees and branches down on power lines and cause outages.
As always, Hydro Ottawa has crews on stand-by, ready to respond if necessary.
To keep our customers and the general public apprised, we have increased the number of social media posts on safety and outage preparedness, which will continue over the weekend.
In addition, we have added a storm alert banner on our outage map. We will also send out a Weather Watch notification to customers with email addresses on file, advising them of the possibility of extended power outages and how they can prepare.
Hydro Ottawa relies on customers to help pinpoint the cause of an outage. We appreciate your assistance in encouraging your constituents to report an outage or safety concern directly to us by:
- Submitting it online;
- Through the Hydro Ottawa app;
- Texting “OUT” to PWROUT (797688); or
- Calling the 24/7 outage hotline at 613-738-0188.
Here are some safety tips for residents:
- Remind constituents of the resources available on our Outage Safetyand Emergency Preparedness pages;
- Gather items for an emergency kit that includes things like: medicine, first aid supplies, flashlights, new batteries, a battery-operated radio, a manual can opener, canned food, bottled water, blankets, pet food, and important documents and telephone numbers;
- Charge mobile devices and laptops;
- For those requiring an uninterrupted supply of power for specialized medical equipment, ensure you have a back-up supply in place or a plan to relocate to a facility that can assist you;
- For those with mobile disabilities who live in a building that requires the use of an elevator, be sure to inform the building’s management that you may need assistance; and
- Install a backup power supply for your sump pump. This will help avoid flooding during power outages.
If outages occur, residents are advised to visit our Outage Map, which is updated every 15 minutes as new information comes in from our crews in the field. Estimated restoration times will be determined for each outage once damage has been assessed, and when it is safe for our crews to do so.
Thank you in advance for your continued support.
