Power is returning to central Toronto after a widespread outage caused major disruptions in the city Thursday afternoon.
Toronto Hydro said, in coordination with Hydro One, that power has been restored to roughly half of the 10,000 residents and businesses that were without power for several hours.
Officials said the outage was likely caused by a large crane that hit a power line earlier in the day.
“We know this has made today extremely difficult for many of you and we appreciate your patience,” Hydro One said in a tweet accompanied by images of the crane appearing to float on a barge in the city’s Port Lands neighborhood.
The scene of a collision between a barge carrying a crane and power lines, in Toronto, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
Several blocks in the financial district and Yonge and Dundas streets area, including Yonge-Dundas Square itself, lost power shortly after 12:30 p.m.
The big screens that usually show ads in this area don’t work either.
Other areas affected by the outage included Toronto police headquarters, St. Lawrence Market, Toronto City Hall and the Eaton Centre, which was forced to partially close at one point but has since reopened.
Shoppers are shown standing outside the Eaton Center during a massive power outage in downtown Toronto on Thursday.
Toronto Transit said the outage spanned at least a four-block radius.
Toronto Hydro’s outage map shows areas within College Street to the Gardiner Expressway and between Bayview Extension and University Avenue are without power.
This image shows a map showing power outages in Toronto. (Toronto Hydro)
Toronto police are reminding drivers to treat any intersection without traffic lights as a four-way stop. Trams in the area are also dealing with the disruption, which is contributing to localized traffic problems.
Toronto Hydro told CP24 earlier in the day that a large crane in the Port Land neighborhood hit a high-voltage power line, although it was unclear at this time if that was the cause of the outage.
A crane that hit a high-voltage power line in downtown Toronto on Thursday, August 11, 2022 (Twitter/Hydro One)
In a follow-up tweet, Hydro One — which worked alongside the city’s utility company during the outage — all but confirmed that the crane’s impact was the source of the outage, with attached images of “the transmission line that was affected. “
It is not clear how the crane managed to connect to the high-voltage line that left so much of the city center without power.
Toronto Hydro said it is unclear when power will be fully restored.
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