By Charlie Senack
A day after freezing rain blanketed capital, parts of Kitchissippi remain without power.
Hydro Ottawa says as of 9:00 p.m. Wednesday night, over 60,000 customers remained in the dark.
“The situation continues to fluctuate and conditions are every poor and unsafe as a result of bad road conditions, ice build up and downed trees and power lines in many areas of the city,” a message on the Hydro Ottawa website read.
In the area near Westboro and Island Park, around 400 Hydro Ottawa customers are still without power. In McKellar Park, that number is closer to 2,000. Estimated restoration times have not been given.
An updated map showing outages can be found here.
The power outages and icy conditions is resulting in a second day of school bus cancellations. All yellow bus and van transportation is cancelled for Thursday, however schools remain open.
But for some students it will be an early start to the Easter holidays due to power outages closing some schools. Notre Dame and Nepean High Schools are closed Thursday, along with Broadview Public School.
In total Ottawa received 38.5 mm of ice pellets and freezing rain, the greatest amount of precipitation the city has ever recorded on April 5.
Shortly after 2:00 p.m. that same day, a Hintonburg man was taken to hospital after a tree branch fell on him near Laurel Street and Irving Avenue. He has been listed in serious but stable condition.