Sunnybrook transfered 6 infants in power outage
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The power outage Sunday at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre is the most serious of some 23 or more power collapses faced by the hospital just this year. It was barely a month ago that Hydro CEO Anthony Haines told the Ontario Energy Network gathering that Sunnybrook “needs a new power line into the hospital.” That urgency will be underscored again by this week’s outrage in which the hospital had to immediately transfer six neonatal infants to other hospitals to gain the extra margin of safety provided by being on the Hydro grid. Of course the hospital has five powerful diesel generators to pick up the load but it is the last backstop to a health-care disaster. Speaking in November Haines said “Our friends at Sunnybrook (Hospital) have had 23 outages this year.” He said outages were made of up 13 outright interruptions, plus another 10 incidents when the quality of power “sagged.” Hospital equipment is especially sensitive to even momentary interruptions, he said: “One sixtieth of a second takes an MRI machine down.” Power interruptions cause delays as equipment has to be shut down and re-booted, he said.
South Bayview stores back in business Monday
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The lights are back on along South Bayview. Stores and shops are open Monday and there was a good number of people on the street by noon. Tzatz, the women’s wear store has a hastily made sign in the window saying WE ARE OPEN. Toronto Hydro said that Sunnybrook Hospital would have primary power restored by today. The key health sciences centre has been operating on back up generators since early Sunday. But thousands of South Bayview homes face a dark and cold pre-Christmas. Inset, one lucky homeowner can bundle the family around a gas fireplace. On the Run at Mt Pleasant and Merton Street was definitely idle and bottom inset, a branch weighs heavily on a power line into a home in Moore Park. It may yet cause an outage. On Mt Pleasant Rd. things are still a bit rocky although stores are open even if they don’t have power. Traffic is confused because of traffic light outages all up the street to Mt Pleasant and Manor Rd. Traffic signals are back in operation at Bayview and Millwood and Bayview and Manor Rd. At a news conference this morning Anthony Haines, CEO of Toronto Hydro, revised the estimate of customers still without power to about 215,000. This he said represented “metres” not individuals. Generally, a metre might be considered a household or business. Mr. Haines said that critical services such as Sunnybrook and East General Hospital, and the two Toronto pumping stations, have been re-connected to the Hydro grid. He also noted that the next priority for Hydro is the so-called “big feeders” which had failed. They are sources of electrical power to neighborhoods. The repair of one feeder would immediately bring many households back on line. Mr Haines said the last priority are the unfortunate people who have lost power to single houses, or to just a few, in a neighborhood where there is still power. This has typically been caused by a branch bringing down a line into a home, leaving the service next door untouched. In some cases it may take until the end of the week to see all these single cases fixed. Power outage closes CNIB until January 2, 2014
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CNIB is asking all staff, volunteers and clients to stay home tomorrow (Monday) and Tuesday (December 23 and 24, 2013). The offices at 1929 have been struck by the same power outage that has closed most everything else on Bayview. All CNIB Centre programs, services and activities are cancelled until Thursday, January 2, 2014. Because of the power collapse the CNIB website is also
Tweeting hopeful to helpless at #leasidedark
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The tweets go from hopeful to helpless at Leaside Dark Sunday night. Bill Grill (otherwise known as Andy Elder) is eager to get his Laird Drive shop Grilltime open. Hope he did. Leah McLean asks that the Leaside fixer get busy and fix her lights for ”a girl sitting at home in the dark”. Jaime Stein said that he was drinking a (ahem) “dark” ale in the dark at Against the Grain. Hey, was that an ad? Come to think of it, happy or sad, buy an ad. Leaside Dark
South Bayview struggles to recover in dark
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South Bayview’s neighborhoods are hard hit by the ice storm power outages. Leaside east of Bayview and large parts of Bennington Heights and Moore Park are in the dark. To the north, outages are patchy but Lawrence Park and Sherwood Park have been badly hit. Traffic signals are dangerously without power. Those who know the area will note the absence of lights at Mt. Pleasant and Moore Ave. and at Bayview and Millwood Rd. The lights at Mt Pleasant and Merton Street are flashng a four way red, which is much safer. South Bayview is dark on both sides as is Mt Pleasant. The normally busy Esso gas bar on Mt Pleasant is closed.
300,000 in Toronto face blacked out Christmas
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Fallen trees and branches litter the streets of mid-town Toronto this Sunday (December 22, 2013) as more than a quarter of a million people in Canada’s largest municipality are without power. Toronto Hydro has estimated 250,000 in the dark but later in the day raised that number to 300,000. Across the Greater Toronto Area, it appears as many as half a million may be without power. Because of the still uncounted number of lines down in Toronto it is likely that many will face Christmas Eve, or maybe even Christmas morning, without lights and power..Hydro emergency sources were telling residents to expect service for snapped wires laying across vehicles to be looked after “in two or three days.” It is, as Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong put it, the worst storm the city has see in recent times. Hydro CEO Anthony Haines called the ice storm “catastrophic.” Mayor Ford held a news conference in the early afternoon in which he said that two hospitals, Sunnybrook and East General, are without power. This disconcerting news was clarified by Premier Wynne in her news conference in which she noted that the two hospitals are operating on back up generated power. She thanked those who still had electricity in their homes for welcoming neighbors who were caught in the blackout into their homes. The outages have occurred in patches of sometimes curious pattern through the mid-town corridor of the city. One aspect of this is the number of mature trees in that part of the city. Sometimes an outage involved only one home. Elsewhere, as in large parts of South Bayview, the outage is quite general. Toronto Hydro said it may be up to 72 hours before power is fully restored. In Ottawa, Prime Minister Harper said his thoughts are with with those who are without power. Photo via Twitter of Toronto after a long dark night of falling trees.
Salvation Army Band kicked out of Union Stn.
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The management of Union Station has kicked out the Salvation Army Band after more than 50 years of holiday fundraising because some merchants in the concourse claim the music is too loud. The annual concerts by the Toronto Staff Band of the Sally Ann are an institution to many people, and to the members of the Army. Because of the ban the Army has decided to remove its brass kettle solicitation from Union Station altogether. Apparently the Army was offered the chance to solicit but without the band. It seemed wrong to do that after such a long history of traditional “Merry Christmas” offerings made by members of all denominations. In many minds, the Salvation Army’s pledge that it will be “Doing The Most Good” with the donated money, touches the heart. For those who admire the Army, regardless of faith, we offer you a scrubbed and committed Yorkshire Choir with the Manchester Citadel Band belting out Onward Christian Soldiers. For those who don’t care for it, please disregard.
Scent of “enhanced” sex in the air at strip clubs
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The Adult Entertainment Association of Canada has told the Toronto Sun that it’s ready to provide “enhanced” services once brothels become legal in Canada. “The country’s licensed adult entertainment clubs are already the Canadian version of a brothel,” said association president Tim Lambrinos in a statement, adding that they don’t yet go as far as full-on brothels do.
Weather wonks ratchet up Toronto ice warning
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Environment Canada is calling it a “major ice storm”. We better pay attention. There may be as much as 30 mm of ice accumulation on Toronto. This type of burden can cause power outages. But as always, it depends on the temperature as to whether it merely falls as rain. Saturday morning has passed with nasty but manageable ice. How much worse will it get before Sunday morning? Just stay safe. Air Canada, West Jet and Porter Airlines urged customers to check the status of their flights prior to leaving for the airport in case of possible flight delays and disruptions throughout the weekend. Photo by Justin Plourde of Brampton shows softer side of an ice storm. Church adds hot chocolate to Yule tree sale
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The ice-covered streets and gray skies above South Bayview are merely nothing against the Christmas spirit on the tree lot at 111 Manor Rd today and tomorrow (Saturday and Sunday, December 21 and 22, 2013). That’s where the 58th Toronto Scouts are selling their excellent Christmas trees. According to the tweets, next-door friends from the Transfiguration Church are serving up hot chocolate to the Scouts customers. You should take a look. The lot is on Manor just where Redpath Ave. joins between Mt Pleasant and Yonge St.