NOTEBOOK: Sunday evening update – May 22, 7:50pm

by | May 22, 2022 | Information

NOTEBOOK: Sunday evening update – May 22, 7:50pm

Tonight I’m writing from my ward office at CARDELREC on Shea Road. Power is out at my home and across most of Stittsville. The City has opened the rec centre as an emergency centre where you can get a shower, plug in your phone, and get food and refreshments.  We’ve had hundreds of people visit the centre today.

A big thank you to City staff, the Salvation Army, and the Red Cross who are running this facility. It will be open daily from 10am-10pm as long as it is needed. The Salvation Army is arranging food and refreshments, including warm meals for breakfast and dinner. There’s even a pet-friendly area.

I spent part of my day here, and part of my day out in the community looking at the damage and talking to residents affected by the storm. Thank you to everyone who is helping out by checking in on neighbours, and assisting with the clean-up in any way that you can. I am so proud of the community spirit on display in Stittsville right now.

Here’s the latest information that we have:

  • 170,000 Hydro Ottawa customers are without power across the City, with 560 unique power outages. It could be a few days before all customers have power restored. Crews continue to assess and respond to unsafe conditions and restore service on a priority basis focusing on restoring critical customers like hospitals/emergency services and outages affecting large neighbourhoods.
  • I am hearing from some residents that power is back on for a few streets in our community. We’re all crossing our fingers that there will be more power restorations soon. For hydro information, visit the Hydro Ottawa website or its Twitter account.
  • Operations are underway citywide to re-open arterial roadways and restore traffic infrastructure. Road closures and traffic impacts are still expected across Ottawa. For safety, we ask that residents please stay off the roads if possible.
  • An incident command post will be established at Fire Station 81 in Stittsville, to coordinate debris management and clean-up services in these highly impacted areas. City staff will be available for residents who have questions about anything related to clean-up and repairs.
  • We expect to have details on Monday about special waste pick-up options for spoiled food.
  • Ottawa Health has some helpful tips and advice for food safety during a power outage: https://t.co/0yiuPN6Xge
  • We expect to have details soon about assistance to pick up and dispose of fallen branches and cut wood.
  • The City of Ottawa and partners are assessing additional needs for wellness checks and other health and social services.
  • You can charge your phone at Station 81 (1641 Stittsville Main St,).
  • IDI Ottawa (Intercultural Dialogue Institute) is providing hot meal, washrooms, air conditioning and charging stations for residents affected by the storm at the Turkish Cultural Center, 335 Michael Cowpland Dr. in Kanata.

Please let me know what assistance you require. My job is to understand what our community needs are right now, and to connect residents with City services that can help. The best way to reach me and my team is by email at glen.gower@ottawa.ca or by phone at 613-580-2476 (please leave a message if we cannot answer).

We will also continue to share updates throughout the day in a variety of ways:

Please share this email and information with your friends and neighbours in the community.

Stay safe, and take care.
-Councillor Glen