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Ice storm effects linger as tens of thousands still in dark

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As Christmas transitioned into Boxing Day, there seemed no end in sight to the power outages that have left tens of thousands of Canadians with no electricity or warm place to call home, although the number of households without electricity is slowly dropping.


Toronto Hydro spokeswoman Tanya Bruckmueller told CBC News early Thursday that the number of customers without electricity has dropped to about 54,000 from a high of about 300,000, but fresh snowfall is causing new outages for people whose power had been restored.


"It is taking so long [to restore power] because we have not seen a storm like this in our history. The amount of damage to our equipment due to the trees coming down is unprecedented," she said.


Bruckmueller said new snow landing on branches is making them heavier, resulting in dangerous situations like trees falling as they work.


The ice storm last weekend slammed into southern Ontario last weekend before moving east and causing havoc in the Maritimes, and in the northeastern U.S., leaving tens of thousands scrambling to find warmth and a place to spend Christmas on Wednesday.


At a Christmas morning news conference, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said workers from other utilities in Ontario, as well as Manitoba, have been working round the clock. The cleanup of all the tree branches that have either fallen or been removed, along with other debris, could take four to six weeks. 


"This has been a very challenging four days; we are going to stay here and give you updates every day until we restore power," Ford told reporters at city hall.


In other parts of the country, crews are still working to restore power in parts of southern Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. 


Hydro One, which serves 1.3 million customers in Ontario, was down to about 15,000 blacked out customers late Wednesday, but that figure continues to fluctuate and had risen to more than 17,000 by Thursday morning.


People desperate to keep warm have been engaging in some dangerous practices.


The incident follows the death of two people in Newcastle, Ont., after carbon monoxide apparently seeped into their home from the garage where a gas generator was in use, prompting authorities to caution people against using  generators, charcoal stoves and barbecues indoors.


Early Christmas morning, two children and two adults in east-end Toronto were taken to hospital to be treated for carbon monoxide poisoning, reportedly after the occupants of an apartment were burning coal to keep warm.


The ice storm downed power lines, left trees and roads covered in ice and caused widespread travel delays.


In other parts of Canada:


- In Quebec, some 7,000 customers were without electricity, primarily in the Eastern Townships.

- Fewer than 18,000 homes and businesses in New Brunswick remained off the grid.

Holiday plans disrupted


Toronto Hydro says it is receiving assistance from Hydro Ottawa, Sault Ste. Marie PUC, Enwin (Windsor) and Manitoba Hydro.


Besides burdening residents, the fallout from the ice storm has also disrupted emergency workers' plans who have been helping to restore power.


Manitoba Hydro worker Darren McMurdo said he had an early Christmas with his wife and kids to travel to the Toronto area to help out.


"We had a little Christmas in a hurry last night," McMurdo told CBC News on Tuesday.


On Tuesday, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne reacted to criticism that power wasn't being restored quickly enough by saying: "So far the progress we're seeing in affected communities is very encouraging." 


"We're three days into this and tens of thousands of people who didn't have power — hundreds of thousands of people who didn't have power  — have power now and the progress has been remarkable."


Many customers, however, could be without electricity until the weekend, and Toronto Hydro CEO Anthony Haines said the situation could get worse.


"I can honestly say I've never paid so much attention to the weather forecast before in my life until I did this week," he said Tuesday morning.


While the ice storm's devastation has left many people frantic, one Saint John resident calmly expressed her frustration to CBC News on Christmas Eve, saying: "Our power out and we can't cook our turkey meal, which sucks."


U.S. storm leads to several deaths


In the U.S., 17 deaths have been linked to the ice storm. Two people are known to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning.


Some homes and businesses from Maine to Michigan may not get their power back for another day or longer.


Bangor Hydro Electric in Maine is advising people it will be the end of the day Friday before its more than 11,000 customers are back on line. The number has fluctuated as some people get power back while others lose it. The utility said downed trees are the biggest problem facing line crews.


"We've had two beautiful, sunny days in Maine and the ice isn't going anyplace," said Lynette Miller, spokeswoman for the Maine Emergency Management Agency. "They're very concerned about more weight coming down on trees that are already compromised by ice."


Central Maine Power, with more than 24,000 customers still in the dark early Thursday, hoped to get power back for most by the end of the day but acknowledged that some will still be without electricity on Friday. More than 100,000 were without power at the storm's peak.


More snow was forecast Thursday for Maine and parts of Michigan, and frigid temperatures were expected to keep ice from melting off power lines and tree branches, posing new risks for outages.


Ashley Walter, 27, was still hunkered down with her husband, Jacob, and their month-old daughter, Leah, at a shelter set up in a school in Litchfield, Maine. The family lost power on Saturday, got it back temporarily, then lost it again Sunday and have been without since.


Despite the challenge of being forced out of the house, especially at Christmas, the family was staying positive.


"It's definitely kind of strange but we're hanging in there," Ashley Walter said Wednesday. "We did our Christmas together last night. I packed little stockings and gave them to my husband, sisters and my daughter."


In Michigan, about 105,000 homes and businesses were still without power early Thursday, down from more than 500,000 at the storm's peak. CMS Energy Corp. said some of its nearly 90,000 customers still offline may have to wait until Saturday to get power back. 


[PHOTOGALLERY]


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