HEARST - Amid an extreme cold warning, hundreds of Hydro One customers in Hearst have been without power since this morning.
The Hydro One outage map shows 358 customers in the west side of the community are without power, an unscheduled outage that started this morning. There are also 489 customers along a stretch of Highway 11 from Lowther to west of Hallebourg that have no hydro.
There is an Environment Canada extreme cold warning in effect for Hearst, which is expected to last into Tuesday. Temperatures are expected to be -40 to -45C with the windchill.
The outage map says the power in both areas estimates the hydro will be back on at 8:30 p.m., but a post from Hydro One on X, the social media platform formally known as Twitter, says the estimated restoration time is 1 a.m.
"We appreciate our customers' patience as we continue to work with Hearst Power Distribution Company to determine the cause of the initial outage. While patrolling our infrastructure to find the cause, our crews found two breakers that malfunctioned at Hearst TS and are making repairs at this time," the company wrote on X at 4:20 p.m.
James Bay OPP has also issued an advisory.
Police are reminding people not to use propane appliances or generators indoors because they produce dangerous levels of carbon monoxide, which is odourless, colourless and potentially fatal.
For people unable to stay warm at home, the Hearst OPP detachment's conference room is open as a warming shelter.
"The OPP encourages everyone to check on vulnerable neighbours or family members who may require assistance during this time. In case of emergency, please dial 9-1-1," said police in the news release.
Conseil scolaire catholique des Grandes Rivières closed three of its Hearst schools today due to the power outage. The facilities affected were École catholique Pavillon Notre-Dame, École catholique St-Louis and École secondaire catholique de Hearst.
École catholique Ste-Anne was not affected and was open today.
