‘Please avoid travelling’: OPP warns of dangerous roads in eastern Ontario

Freezing rain has left over 80,000 people without power in areas like Peterborough and Orillia. CP24's Sijia Liu spoke with Hydro One spokesperson Tiziana Rosa.

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is warning the public of dangerous road conditions due to freezing rain, citing blocked roads with falling branches of trees across eastern Ontario.

“Frontenac OPP have many reported incidents of trees blocking the road and Hydro wires down,” the OPP said in a post on X.

The OPP says that icy road conditions are making some roads completely impassable.

Crews and police are working together to assess and repair the roads.

“Please avoid traveling, if you don’t need to go out,” reads the post. “Stay home for the safety of everyone.”

Meanwhile Hydro One notes that crews continue to respond to outages, citing damaged equipment due to fallen trees and branches.

The storm has caused power outages across the region. Hydro One, Ontario’s provincial utility, says power was restored for more than 257,000 customers across the province by Saturday.

As of Sunday afternoon, more than 335,000 customers remain in the dark across the province, 35,000 of which are in eastern Ontario.

“Crews from other areas are supporting restoration in the hardest hit regions, where customers may remain out overnight,” Hydro One said in a post on X Saturday.

It told CTV News Ottawa Sunday the hardest hit areas are central and eastern Ontario.

To report power outage, text 92887 (WATTS).

This comes as a freezing rain warning remains in effect for Ottawa and eastern Ontario, including Cornwall, Prescott, Brockville, Kingston, Bellville and the Ottawa Valley. Environment Canada says some areas could see 15 to 20 millimetres of ice accretion, noting that freezing rain is forecast to continue until early Sunday evening.

On Saturday, police responded to dozens of crashes on roads and highways across the region. Between midnight and 9 a.m., police responded to close to 100 collisions in eastern Ontario as a result of icy road conditions. A major crash between two tractor trailers and a car has left one person dead on Highway 138 in the Township of North Stormont.