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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1976-03-10, Page 1Electricity back • n:!! It was late Sunday afternoon before power was restored to most Zurich residents. They had been without hydro since Tuesday night at around 8:00 p.m. The three man Zurich crew, headed by Charles Eckel, had help from several Huron County employees and three men from the Seaforth PUC. Seaforth PUC also made two trucks available on a part time basis. The Zurich PUC also takes care of the Dashwood hydro system and it was in Dashwood that repairs first began. "We knew hydro would reach Dash- wood first," said Mr. Eckel. It was late Saturday afternoon when hydro was restored to Dashwood. A lot of individual service wires were pulled out of the hones, especially in Dashwood, according to Mr. Eckel. "Falling branches pulled insulators right out of the walls." Although power has been re - Ice restored at aren:. after blackout The ice surface was restored to the Zurich arena Tuesday night and scheduled activities will continue. Jerry Rader, arena manager, says "we tried putting the ice in Sunday night, but power was still at a minimum in Zurich and the ice -making equipment was too much of an overload." A more successful attempt was made Monday afternoon and the ice surface was ready Tuesday night. Mr. Rader hasn't had any word on rescheduling activities can- celled due to lack of ice. "The figure skaters hire a professional so they will likely be the only ones wanting to reschedule ice time. Most of the hockey teams have been going to other arenas so they aren't too far behind schedule. Zurich usually has ice until the second week of April and Mr. Rader doesn't expect to keep the ice in any later this year. "It depends on how long the Intermediate teams last. The Zurich Intermediates are out so we just have Shipka. I don't think their series will run past the middle of April." stored, a number of the hook ups are strictly temporary. Mr. Eckel says it may take two or three weeks to get everything back to normal. "We were lucky, it could have been a lot worse," says Mr. Eckel. "In town the houses helped to cut the wind, Even though we had as much ice as the rural areas, we did not have as many lines down as they did." Zurich was lucky in another way as well. About 1 hour before the hydro was restored to the village, the stand-by generator being used to pump water broke down. It will be another two to three days before it is function- ing again. "It's been every day and long days and a lot of heartache and pain and a little cursing and swearing," says Mr. Eckel. "But, I guess that goes with the job." Hensall hard hit It was 2:30 Wednesday morn- ing when the hydro went out in Hensall, but the people in Hensall where more fortunate than many. Thanks to help from the Strat- ford and Clinton PUC's, the Hen- sall PUC had restored to most of the town by Thursday at noon. About 30 houses had their individual service wires discon- nected by falling branches, but even these were restored to power by Saturday at noon. Lorne Archer, manager of the PUC, says he hasn't had time to figure out damage estimates as clearing of the debris contin- ues. "The entire community of Hensall is helping to clear up the brush," says Mr. Archer. "The response is wonderful. You couldn't begin to name all the individuals that helped, there were so many." Private individuals not only helped clear the brush, several also served coffee from cars to hydro workers at no charge. Mr. Archer says many people have suggested putting the entire system underground but he feels this would be just too expensive. "New subdivisions charge anywhere from $750 to $900 per lot," says Mr. Archer. "Many people feel hydro bills are expensive enough now. What would they be like then?" t'. 3tm NA,s, *V .0 YSRx£. TYPICAL SCENE - Trees were buckled, hydro poles snapped and wires downed across a wide. area of western Ontario on Tuesday night in one of the worst ice storms ever experienced. Tne scene above shows large trees drooping to the ground on a Zurich street. News Photo Muarlicgh NO. 10- FIRST WITH THE LOCAL NEWS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 1976 Area damage `1,500,000 ' Early Tuesday morning, a weary Jini Palmer, arca manag- er of Ontario Hydro, Clinton, told the News that there were still about 100 miles of primary line out of service in the arca but it was expected that a work force of 230 Hien would have the situation much improved by Tuesday 'night. Residents in Exeter, Grand Bend. Dashwood and Zurich were without power again early Tues- day morning as temporary rep- airs made earlier let go about 2:30 a.m. Final restoration of power to these communities was completed about 6.30 a.m, with Zurich and Grand Bend being last to conie on. "People can expect power failures, of a shorter duration, for the next few days, maybe even a week." said Mr. Palmer. He said the temporary blackouts would be the result of repairs foiling or disconnections in order to make permanent repairs. MEET WITH MEMBERS - At Saturday's meeting of the Huron Federation of Agriculture Huron MP Bob McKinley chats with Joe Miller, Hay Township, Glenn Miller, Stephen and Adrian Vos, Huron F of A president. News Photo "The Hien have been working long hours," said Mr. Palmer. "They worked around the clock for the first 24 hours and they are still working 14 to 17 hours a day." Mr. Palmer said that a quick calculation of the extra costs in the Clinton office region alone due to the storm was about one and a half million dollars. "By Tuesday night we should have all but about 25 miles of the primary lines back in service but we've got a massive cleanup operation ahead of us," said Mr. Palmer. "1t could easily he the weekend before some individual services arc restored." Mr. Palmer said the Ontario Water Resources plant at Grand Bend which supplies water to London and other smaller com- munities would have to be shut down either Wednesday or Thurs- day for permanent repairs. Mr. Palmier estimated that as of Tuesday morning there were still between 1,800 customers in the region without power. Mr. Palmer was pleased to report that there were no injur- ies in the region during the hectic clays following Tuesday's ice storm. He said the area was fast approaching a one million hour mark without an accident result- ing in disabling injury. This. he said. is a record which has been achieacd only once or twice before in the province of Ont- ario during the entire history of Ontario Hydro. TOUGH WEEK Mr. Palmer said that his office started receiving calls about line trouble during Tuesday afternoon and by six o'clock it was obvious from the buildup of ice that rouble, big trouble was ahead. Later in the eveniw; the system collapsed, but all through the night the weight of ice on the wires coupled with high winds continued to damage the system. Working feverishly, crews were able to restore power to Hensall. Thompson 's Mill and Big 0 by noon on 'i'liu•sday. These were the first customers restored with electricity. Power reached Ex- eter about 2.311 p.ni. on Thursday. follows by Kirkton at 5.10 p.m, Later in the evening, stations at Lucan, Ailsa Craig and Parkhill were restored. Mr. Palmier point- ed out that electricity to indiv- idual customers in towns may twt have conic orr at these times. but it was available to the local PUC's. Repairs within the local systems had to be made before See page 3 Down trees need treatment With a large number of trees and shrubs Severely damaged in the recent ice storm, the News contacted Huron's Agricultural representative, Don Pullets, for advice on proper treatment. Pullen says the first step is to prune back the branches with a smooth cut flush with the trunk. He continued, "This isn't absol- utely necessary but it would be good to cleanse the wound with 0 mild solution of copper sul- phate." He suggested about a teaspoon -ful of copper sulphate in a gallon of water to provide a germicidal effect to kill bacteria. Pullen added, "This pruning should be done as soon as poss- ihlc. If the weather gets warmer, the bacteria or fungi will get into the vascular or circulatory system of the tree and create rotting." After pruning and application of copper sulphate a covering of Bracco, a tar base like sub- stance should be brushed on the joints. Pullen said, "I would advise using Bracco on larger trees and on ornamentals." On the subject of pruning; Pullen said, "Common sense is necessary. If the limb left is fairly long take it back to the nearest active branch. In pruning cut under the limb before over." For work on ornamental shrubs and trees he advises a trip to a hardware store and purchase of a good pruning saw. His final words on the subject were, "The tar should be put on during warmer weather, so it would be okay to prune now and tar later,"