Toronto Hydro says it is aiming to have power restored to about 23 apartment buildings on Thorncliffe Park Drive by dinner hour. Residents of the units have struggled through more than 24 hours of darkness and cold as Hydro worked at replacing a unit valued at some $65,000 in an underground vault on Thorncliffe Park. Many tenants of the area have complained that they are of modest means and fear that everything from food spoilage to children’s illnesses will become an issue for them. Apartment dwellers have had to find their way around their darkened apartments, halls and stairways. Elevators are of course not working. By any measure, it is a miserable situation. The councillor, John Parker (Ward 26 Don Valley West) was present at the repair site. On CP24 he said that this is an example of aging infrastructure throughout the city and that people should expect further blackouts from time to time because of that. He pointed out the fairly long-standing tug-of-war between Ontario Hydro and the Ontario Energy Board for funds to repair known potential problems. An earlier outage in Davisville Village which occurred at more or less the same time as the Thorncliffe blackout has now had power restored.
