Woolwich, Wellesley declare states of emergency due to ice storm

A tree fell down and crashed through the roof of a Cambridge, Ont., house on Friday, April 12, 2013. (Courtesy Shane VanDyk)

States of emergency are in place in three local townships as many remain in the dark following a spring ice storm.

Wellesley, Woolwich and North Perth Townships have all declared states of emergency.

In all areas, officials said power outages could continue into Saturday morning.

Woolwich residents can take refuge in a temporary warming centre at the Woolwich Memorial Centre in Elmira.

In North Perth, warming centres have been set up at the Listowel Salvation Army on Main Street in Listowel and the Elma Memorial Community Centre on Main Street in Atwood.

A warming centre has also been set up at the Linwood Community Centre on Ament Line. Officials there say they will stay open overnight and into Saturday if necessary.

Wellesley Mayor Ross Kelterborn says restoring power took longer than crews initially expected because storm damage continued to accumulate.

“As the power was being restored, other branches, new branches, were breaking down,” he said at a Friday afternoon press conference.

Power outages were also noted throughout the day Friday in parts of Kitchener, Waterloo, Wilmot and Guelph.

At one point, more than 35,000 people were affected in those areas.

Electricity was expected to be restored in most areas by Friday evening, with some localized outages continuing into Saturday.

“We’re trying to isolate the problems to the smallest number of customers affected so for some, power will be on in the next hour, for some it could be several hours yet,” said Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro president Jerry Van Ootegham.

City of Kitchener officials estimate that they responded to 60 calls regarding downed trees before 11 a.m. In most cases, the trees were down on hydro wires, creating dangerous situations with live wires.

Power outages and road closures were also reported across Perth County, especially in the Dublin and Perth East areas

Warming centres have been set up at the Mitchell Arena (6 p.m. to 10 p.m.) and Perth East Recreation Complex (until midnight, again from 8 a.m. Saturday).