By Adam Brazeau
CORNWALL, Ontario – Cornwall residents had a real shock when portions of the city were hit with power outages today.
Cornwall Electric had estimated 1,000 people were without power due to several electrical poles being down in the city from high winds.
“Most of the customers are back on right now,” said Cornwall Electric regional manager Mike Pescod. “But the winds are still blowing. There’s still potential for more power outages.”
Five electric poles were down in the city, and Cornwall Electric staff is currently working to get them back in order.
Pescod said that high winds impacting portions of Ontario today and last night caused the power outages.
Cornwall Electric lead hand Roddy McLeod, along with three staff members, were using one of four trucks to pull two electrical poles up from the ground at a house near the Fifth Wheel truck stop on McConnell Avenue.
“It will take eight to ten hours to finish this,” said McLeod.
Pescod said a few customers have damaged electrical services on their house due to falling trees.
“They’ll have to get that repaired by an electrician before they can get turned back on,” he said.
Pescod said well under 100 customers are still without power.
“We’re still responding to calls right now,” he said.