Send this page to someone via email Many Ottawa-area residents could be left without power for several days after Friday’s tornado caused major damage to a key Hydro One transformer station. The twister devastated the provincial utility’s transformer station in Merivale in west-end Ottawa, one of the major electricity supply points to the city. READ MORE: Thousands without power, several injured after tornado rips through Ottawa-Gatineau region “It will take multiple days to restore that station. When that station comes back online, power will flow,” Hydro Ottawa president and CEO Bryce Conrad said on Saturday. “In the meantime, we are working to redirect power, to restore power where we can but that transformer station is the problem for us at the moment. Again, this is a multi-day outage.” Ottawa typically receives about 1,000 megawatts of power this time of year, Conrad said, but lost 400 megawatts as the result of the tornado’s disruptions to the transmission supply. Story continues below advertisement WATCH: Full coverage of Ottawa-region tornado So severe was the damage to the Hydro One station in Merivale that provincial hydro authorities hadn’t been able to assess the damage as of Saturday morning due to debris, Conrad said, adding that the damage to hydro infrastructure “was arguably as bad as — if not worse than — the ice storm of 1998.” Thunderstorms with high winds and a confirmed tornado in Eastern Ontario have caused significant damage to our Merivale Station. Crews are working on restoring power as quickly and safely as possible. Sign up for outage alerts and updates at: https://t.co/04lgwEJXZI pic.twitter.com/R2YZJRrVQS — Hydro One (@HydroOne) September 22, 2018 As many as 147,000 people were without power Saturday morning after the twister tore through the area, leaving a mass of mangled power lines and felled hydro towers in its wake. That figure dropped Saturday afternoon to 97,500 without power in Ottawa. POWER OUTAGE UPDATE @ 4:30pm : 97,500 customers without power at this time. Major areas include 28K in Cedarview/Greenbank, 24K in Lincoln Heights/Hinchey. We have significant customers out also in Kanata South, Riverside South, Richmond and Glebe. #OttawaOutage #Ottcity #Ottnews — Hydro Ottawa (@hydroottawa) September 22, 2018 Conrad said people who currently have power are not expected to lose it in the coming days. Story continues below advertisement WATCH: Massive cleanup operation in Ottawa after two tornadoes 2:26 Massive cleanup operation in Ottawa after two tornadoes Massive cleanup operation in Ottawa after two tornadoes – Sep 22, 2018 Hydro-Quebec said 114,000 were affected by outages in that province. Follow @Kalvapalle<doc-sep>Share this Story: Tornado aftermath: Power outages could last for days, city officials say Tornado aftermath: Power outages could last for days, city officials say Photo by Wayne Cuddington / Postmedia Article content Nearly 100,000 homes and businesses remained without power Saturday night after stunned residents of Ottawa and Gatineau spent the day cleaning up, helping neighbours or simply gazing awestruck at the damage wreaked by two powerful tornadoes that tore through the region on Friday. Power was gradually restored throughout the day Saturday, but officials with Hydro Ottawa and Hydro One warned it could be several days before all the lights were back on. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Tornado aftermath: Power outages could last for days, city officials say Back to video At its peak, the outage affected more than 300,000 customers in Ottawa, Gatineau and Eastern Ontario. As of mid-evening Saturday, the City of Ottawa reported approximately 97,500 Hydro Ottawa customers still were without power, plus 2,000 more Hydro One customers. Six people in Ottawa were admitted to The Ottawa Hospital, two of them listed in critical condition. In Gatineau, 14 people were taken to hospital and two were admitted for observation. There were no fatalities and no reports of missing people. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Investigators from Environment Canada confirmed Saturday that the fierce thunderstorm on the last day of summer had spawned two tornadoes. The first twister touched down in Kinburn and tracked east north east, striking a direct hit on Dunrobin just before 5 p.m. Friday, before skipping across the Ottawa River and through Gatineau Park before causing more destruction in the Mont Bleu region of Gatineau. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content The tornado was rated to a high EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, said Environment Canada meteorologist Peter Kimbell, who visited the devastated area Saturday. The massive twister cut a swath a half kilometre wide, with winds of between 240 and 250 km/h, moving forward at an estimated 80 km/h. The twister travelled at least 40 kilometres and perhaps as far as 70 kilometres before dissipating east of Autoroute 5 in Gatineau. “It was a big tornado and very intense,” Kimbell said. “It was a big tornado and very intense” The second tornado touched down about 90 minutes later near Highway 416, Kimbell said. It moved eastward across Arlington Wood , Craig Henry, demolishing a key Hydro One transmission station on Merivale Road near Viewmount Drive, then through Hunt Club. That tornado was likely a “high EF2” with wind speeds of 220-230 km/h, he said. Toggle full screen mode Previous Gallery Image Photo by James Park / Postmedia Photo by James Park / Postmedia Photo by James Park / Postmedia Photo by Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press Photo by Justin Tang / THE CANADIAN PRESS Photo by Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTwp Photo by James Park / Postmedia Photo by Justin Tang / The Canadian Press OTTwp OTTwp Photo by Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS Photo by Wayne Cuddington / Postmedia Photo by Wayne Cuddington / Postmedia Photo by James Park / Postmedia Photo by James Park / Postmedia Photo by James Park / Postmedia Photo by Jim Bagnall / Postmedia Photo by James Park / Postmedia Next Gallery Image Toggle gallery captions All 19 Photos for Gallery Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Environment Canada had issued a tornado watch Friday afternoon, later issuing a tornado warning when radar images showed the storms had begun to rotate as it approached Calabogie. The warning probably saved lives, Kimbell said. “In my opinion it worked extraordinarily well,” Kimbell said. “And I know that because I talked to many people today who told me they heard the warning and they took shelter.” We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Across the city, survivors told harrowing stories of narrow escapes and devastating loss. Yvon Plouffe, 73, and his wife, Louise, 67, heard the tornado warning as they watched TV in their Dunrobin home. “I tried to go downstairs and, bang, everything happened. The rear window, the door, flew right at us, right through the house. I grabbed my wife, put her on the ground and I jumped over her. Then the roof fell on us,” he said. “It’s a miracle. But the house is finished. It has to be torn down.” One of the people whose home was destroyed in Dunrobin was Todd Nicholson, a para athlete and the chair of Canada’s Own the Podium medal drive for this country’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes. A few kilometres away in Kinburn, his brother Jason’s house was destroyed by the same twister. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content “We have an amazing community. We will pull together,” Todd Nicholson said. “I have already had calls from all over the world. We have a close-knit family. We’re four brothers and we live within 30 minutes of each other. It’s unfortunate, but we’ll be OK. Things can be replaced.” In Arlington Woods, giant century-old white pines were toppled or snapped off like twigs by the second twister, their huge branches piercing homes and crushing cars. “It is like a war zone,” said Parry Patton, who lives in the neighbourhood and was looking in on a hospitalized friend’s damaged home. Those displaced by the storm gathered at emergency shelters that were opened at West Carleton High School, the Goulbourn Recreation Centre and, in Gatineau, at the Gabrielle Roy campus of the Cégep de l’Outaouais. In Barrhaven, some 3,000 people came to Larkin House, which was serving hot meals throughout the day for those without power. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Fifteen Ottawa Housing buildings with some 5,000 tenants were still without power Saturday night and running on backup generators, said CEO Stéphane Giguère. The generators kept the elevators working and maintained water pressure to the upper floors, while extra staff and volunteers came to assist tenants in need. Photo by Errol McGihon / Postmedia Ottawa Housing will meet with service providers, including the Ottawa Foodbank, on Sunday to work out a plan to help tenants who faced food spoilage as the blackout drags on, Giguère said. Ottawa Public Health tweeted guidelines about what to do about food spoilage, with tips about how to prolong food chilled in the fridge or freezer and warning that food should be discarded if it spent more than two hours at room temperature. “If in doubt, throw it out,” the health unit advised. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content The City of Ottawa did report that the O-Train Trillium Line had resumed full service. Much of the power outage was due to “catastrophic” damage to the Hydro One transformer station on Merivale Road, through which much of the city’s power supply passes. “It will take multiple days to restore that station,” Hydro Ottawa CEO Bryce Conrad said during a briefing at city hall. “When that station comes back online, power will flow. In the meantime, we are working to try to redirect power to try to restore power where we can, but that transformer station is a problem for us at the moment.” The twisters also snapped between 80 and 90 hydro poles in the city, downing many others an leaving some poles dangling wrecks in mid air. Hydro One said it had “every available resource” at work across the province, said spokeswoman Alicia Sayer. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content “This our biggest challenge and it could be several days before power is fully restored to Ottawa and surrounding communities,” she said. “Our crews are still assessing damage and looking at what needs to be done to make the repairs.” About 15,000 Hydro Quebec customers in the Outaouais were without power as night fell Saturday. Despite the devastation in Ottawa’s west and south ends, much of the downtown and eastern regions were unaffected by the storm. Stores and gas stations remained open and attracted shoppers from across the city looking to stock up on ice, food, batteries and flashlights. Toggle full screen mode Previous Gallery Image Photo by Jean Levac / Postmedia News Photo by Jean Levac / Postmedia News Photo by Jean Levac / Postmedia News Photo by Darren Brown Photo by Darren Brown / 0922 gatineau 1 Photo by Darren Brown / 0922 gatineau 1 Photo by Darren Brown / Postmedia Photo by VINCENT-CARL LERICHE / AFP/Getty Images Photo by VINCENT-CARL LERICHE / AFP/Getty Images Photo by VINCENT-CARL LERICHE / AFP/Getty Images Photo by Philippe L. Denault (@phldenault) / Twitter Photo by Darren Brown / Postmedia Photo by VINCENT-CARL LERICHE / AFP/Getty Images Photo by Fred Chartrand / The Canadian Press Next Gallery Image Toggle gallery captions All 14 Photos for Gallery Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Drummond’s Gas on Bronson Avenue near Carling Avenue was one of the few west end gas stations still open Saturday morning. Cars began lining up as soon as it opened at 6 a.m., including Bijan Sulaimany of Barrhaven. It took him an hour to make his way through, since blacked out traffic signals turned the roads to chaos. Sulaimany’s Nissan ran out of gas, just as he pulled into the station, forcing him to ferry fuel to his car in a portable container. Lineups for that other life essential — coffee — were equally long in parts of the city where cafés and restaurants with power attracted customers like a desert oasis. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson praised the city’s first responders for their efforts and said the city would pull together to get through the disaster, just as residents did during the flood of spring 2017 and the 1998 ice storm. He has not asked for help from other levels of government, though Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau both expressed their support for the city on Saturday. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Ford is scheduled to tour the storm damaged area Sunday. With files from Norm Provencher, Elizabeth Payne, Jon Willing, Kelly Egan, Joanne Laucius, Megan Gillis, Alison Mah and Taylor Blewett Click here for complete tornado coverage Photo by Justin Tang / THE CANADIAN PRESS Share this article in your social network Latest National Stories Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Ottawa Sun Headline News Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Ottawa SUN, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. Email Address There was an error, please provide a valid email address. By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. 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Power was restored Saturday afternoon to some areas of Ottawa-Gatineau that experienced outages after two tornadoes struck the area Friday night, but tens of thousands of households across the region are still without power. As of Saturday afternoon, 97,500 customers in Ottawa were still without power. Hydro Ottawa reported that 28,000 customers in the Cedarview/Greenbank area and 24,000 in Lincoln Heights area were without power. Some of the other major concentration of outages are in the Knoxdale-Merivale, Barrhaven, Gloucester-South Nepean, Somerset, Kitchissippi and Orléans areas. It is unclear when power will be fully restored. The Wellington Village neighbourhood in Ottawa got its power back Saturday afternoon. Some power has also been restored in Riverside South, Barrhaven and the Glebe. As of Saturday evening, Hydro-Québec reported that 14,111 customers are without power in the Outaouais area. More than 80 utility poles have been damaged or torn down across Ottawa Traffic lights are also out in several spots across the city. They should be treated as a four-way stop. Power was restored to about 50,000 people Saturday morning and crews continue to address damage across the city. Hydro One was also reporting thousands of customers without power. Their complete list of outages can be accessed here. You can check the estimated power restoration time in your neighbourhood here. If you are experiencing a power outage, you can contact Hydro Ottawa to report it at 613-738-0188. A spokesperson for Telus said Saturday afternoon that its services have been affected by the tornado. Some of the telecommunication company's wireless sites are down because of the power failure, spokesperson François Gaboury said. Mark Choma, a spokesperson for Bell, said the company's cellular towers are intact, but electricity is an issue in some areas. Choma said service is largely unaffected, and Bell is bringing in more generators to make sure they have power. Gatineau About 48,800 Hydro-Québec customers are also without power as of Saturday morning. The Mont-Bleu neighbourhood in Hull is experiencing the significant outages, as well as the areas surrounding Les Promenades mall. You can report a power outage to Hydro-Québec by calling 1-800-790-2424. A full map of the outages in the Ouataouais region is available here. Hydro-Québec's map of power outages as of 8:41 a.m. on Saturday morning. The black triangles represent significant outages. (Hydro-Québec) What to do if your power is out Hydro Ottawa recommends taking the following steps if you are without power. Turn off all lights and unplug appliances and electronics to help avoid a power surge when electricity is restored. Clear valuables from your basement if you have a sump pump without backup power, in case of flooding. Food in your fridge will keep for up to 4 hours, and food in a freezer will keep for up to 48 hours without power, so try to minimize opening and closing the doors of those appliances. Close room doors to keep the heat in. Use flashlights, as candles can be a fire hazard. If you have to use candles, keep them away from drapes and carpets. Never leave the flame unattended. Use camp stoves and barbecues outdoors. Only use backup power generators outside. If electrical wires come in contact with your home or car, do not touch the wires. Call the power company immediately and don't exit your car. If you come across downed power poles or lines, stay at least 10 metres back.