Still 800 homes, businesses in Fort Erie, Port Colborne without power

Published December 28, 2022 at 10:28 am

As of this morning, nearly 800 homes and businesses in Fort Erie and Port Colborne are still without power. (Photo: Canadian Niagara Power)

The Snow Storm of Christmas 2022 is over for most of Niagara Region.

However, for the residents of Fort Erie and Port Colborne, the pain still lingers. Due to their proximity to Lake Erie, both communities were dealing with a full-on blizzard from December 23 through to Christmas Day.

As of this morning (December 28), there were still nearly 800 homes and businesses without power as winds of 110 km/h took out trees and hydro lines over the two day span leading up to Christmas.

Canadian Niagara Power reported earlier, “As of 7:00 am this morning, there are now approx. 796 customers that remain without power as approx. 600 more customers were restored. There are now a total of 65 Lines staff and 16 Support staff (in Fort Erie and Port Colborne.”

Over the weekend and into Boxing Day, there were countless reports of hydro workers being verbally accosted by residents, demanding to get their power back. Some of those workers came from as far away as Sudbury.

It got bad enough that Canadian Niagara Power had to appeal to residents for some distance for their workers. “As our crews continue to restore power in our communities, please be reminded of the possibility of intermittent short-duration outages and be aware of our workers and crews and their workspace. Thank you.”

Their progress has been remarkable, given the damage. Canadian Niagara Power reported last night, “As of 5 pm on December 27, 2022, there are now approximately 1,394 customers that remain without power.”

An appeal from Canadian Niagara Power, asking residents to keep a distance from hydro

workers so they can work safely.

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