Storm Update for Kawartha Lakes – April 8, 2025

Kawartha Lakes – The City of Kawartha Lakes Emergency Operations Centre met today to assess ongoing storm recovery efforts.

Key updates:

• Most of the municipality has regained power, including the parts of Kinmount, Kirkfield and Norland, over the last 12 hours.  There are still pockets across all four corners of the municipality that require additional attention from Hydro One and which require poles and other equipment. Hydro One continues to focus on areas that are of highest safety risk to health and safety.
• Warming centres across the municipality remain open, with changes taking place for Thursday and beyond in locations with low demand.
• Localized flooding is imminent in flood prone areas in and around Burnt River, although cooler temperatures have paused the flooding temporarily.
• A Significant Weather Event remains active as Public Works staff are not able to access all roads and response times may be outside the minimum standards.
• A State of Emergency remains in place.

Quotes

Mayor Doug Elmslie: “I’ve toured the municipality over the past week, and found that despite widespread damage and outages for 10 days and counting, our residents are responding with resilience. We understand that Hydro One and several other contracted teams of upwards of 4,000 personnel are doing everything possible to get the last of the Kawartha Lakes homes up and running. With more than 300 poles were down in the Fenelon Hydro One catchment area alone, it’s a monumental job they’re up against. We’re keeping warming rooms open, and continuing to do Paramedics Wellness checks on everyone who is at risk. Waste and debris relief is ongoing this week with double collection and free drop off at landfills. Please continue to be good to each other and reach out if you need help.”

Hydro One: “Crews continue to uncover severe damage and are rebuilding parts of the distribution grid. So far, more than 2,300 broken poles have been identified, and we have the materials needed to complete the work. Restoration will continue into the week, especially in the hardest-hit and remote areas, including some seasonal properties. Safety remains our top priority.”

What’s Open and Closed April 8 to 11

Warming Centres

Shower access is on a first come first serve/walk-in basis at the three Warming Centres listed below. Please bring towels and toiletries. All Warming Centres have access to water, charging, and warm rooms. Please bring refillable water bottles.

• Lindsay Recreation Complex, Lindsay (7am to 10pm) until end of day Friday April 11
• Woodville Community Centre (10am to 8pm) until end of day Friday April 11
• Fenelon Falls Community Centre (10am to 8pm) On Wednesday April 9, Fenelon Falls Community Centre will be visited by Enbridge from 11am to 1:30pm, to provide hot chocolate, snacks, bottled water and juice boxes. Gluten free and dairy free options available for community members and utility workers in the area and volunteers. Thank you to Enbridge for this support.

• Bobcaygeon Library and Service Centre 8:30am to 4:30pm, Wednesday April 9 to Friday April 11 (wifi, charging, water and warm room, no showers)

Fire Station Warming Centres (8am to 6pm)

Bottled water will be available – courtesy of Sobeys, along with charging and warm rooms. Drop off your spoiled food waste at bins at locations listed under Waste section.

• Bobcaygeon Fire Station 8am to 6pm, until end of day Tuesday April 8
• Janetville Fire Station 8am to 6pm until end of day Tuesday April 8
• Mariposa Fire Station 8am to 6pm until end of day Tuesday April 8
• Bethany Fire Station 8am to 6pm, until end of day Friday April 11
• Burnt River Fire Station 8am to 6pm, until end of day Friday April 11

Landfills

All landfills open regular winter hours with some extensions identified below:

Laxton: Thursday 11am to 5pm, Sunday 9am to 5pm

Eldon: Wednesday 9am to 5pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm

Somerville: Monday 9am to 5pm, Friday 9am to 5pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm

Lindsay Ops: Monday to Saturday, 8am to 5pm

Waste Bins for Spoiled Food Drop-off

Expanded curbside waste collection (up to 4 bags per household) is taking place the week of April 7 to enable residents to dispose of food waste. Those that wish to drop off your spoiled food waste ahead of regularly scheduled collections can do so at the below locations:

• Bethany Fire Station 8am to 6pm, until end of day Friday April 11
• Bobcaygeon Fire Station 8am to 6pm, until end of day Tuesday April 8
• Bobcaygeon Service Centre 8:30 to 4:30pm, April 9 to 11
• Burnt River Fire Station, 8am to 6pm, until end of day Friday April 11
• Janetville Fire Station, 8am to 6pm, until end of day Tuesday April 8
• Mariposa Fire Station, 8am to 6pm, until end of day Tuesday April 8
• Fenelon Falls Community Centre, 10am to 4:30pm, starting 12pm on Wednesday April 9 until April 11
• Woodville/Eldon Community Centre, 10am to 8pm

Waste Collection

• Storm debris: Waived tipping fees will end April 20 with regular tipping fees applying as of April 21. Regular leaf and yard debris that weighs under 250kg remains free of charge.
• Storm debris cleanup by the municipality: For those who can’t access landfill, we will be picking up and/or chipping storm tree and brush debris when resources shift from immediate emergency response to future clean up and recovery, toward the end of April. In some areas of the municipality, contractors and neighbouring municipalities are already assisting with cleanup. It will take some time to work through all areas, likely several weeks, so please be patient. We ask that you bring your storm tree and brush debris to the curb. Please don’t block sidewalks, road ways, lines of sight and ditches. Place storm debris in small piles at the edge of the sidewalk or roadside, ensuring the material is not obstructing pedestrian or vehicle traffic. Place cut or broken ends facing out towards the road. Please ensure that the debris is separated from other types of waste or yard materials. Branches larger than 8 inches in diameter and logs will not be picked up. Leaves, twigs and small debris, should be processed according to regular yard waste collection guidelines.
• Waste collection: Double collection week of April 7, two extra bags will be collected to assist with spoiled food. Double bags should be used and bags should not weigh more than 40 pounds for collector safety.
• Organics: Curbside collection in urban areas Friday. Please remove packaging from food before placing in green bin. Additional organics can be placed in compostable bags in other containers as long as the weight of containers is less than 40lbs. Details

Community Paramedics Health and Well-being Checks

If you would like our Community Paramedics to check on a family member, friend, vulnerable person or whomever you are concerned about during storm recovery:

Customer Service: inquiries@kawarthalakes.ca or call 705-324-9411 ext. 0 (Mon to Fri, 8:30am to 4:30pm). Any requests received outside those hours will be responded to on the next business day.

Paramedics will call first, and if there’s no response, they’ll visit the address.

For emergencies, call 911.

Municipal Administration

All administrative buildings are open.

Lindsay, Bobcaygeon and Omemee Service Centres remain open.

Coboconk Service Centre will re-open Wednesday April 9.

Libraries

Library hours for Wednesday, April 9. Regular programming and WiFi is available at all open branches.

• Bethany: 10am - 2pm
• Bobcaygeon: 8:30am - 5pm
• Dunsford: 10am - 2pm
• Fenelon Falls: 10am - 6pm
• Kirkfield: 3pm - 7pm
• Lindsay: 10am - 8pm
• Oakwood: 10am - 2pm

The Dalton, Kinmount and Norland branches remain closed.

Parks and Recreation

All programming has resumed at open facilities. The Lindsay Recreation Complex and Forbert Memorial Pool are open.

All bookings will take place as scheduled in facilities that have had power restored and internal safety systems cleared. Please contact 705-324-9411 ext. 1226 if you have questions about your booking.

CLOSED: Victoria Rail Trail (VRT) is closed to motorized and non-motorized traffic until further notice for public safety.

Transit

Lindsay Transit back to regular service

Boil Water Advisories

All boil water advisories are lifted. Water is safe to drink.

Burn Ban

Burn Ban in Effect – April: No open fires. Brush can be taken to Lindsay Landfill or burned (with permit) in May.
Learn more about burn permits.

Flood Preparedness

Kawartha Conservation has issued a Flood Warning for the Kawartha Lakes region on Monday April 7, 2025 until 12pm on Friday April 11, 2025.

A Flood Warning watershed condition statement issued by Peterborough Bancroft District, Ministry of Natural Resources for the Burnt River and Black River watershed remains in effect until April 11, 2025.

Fill-Your-Own Sandbags:

• Ward Park (Norland)
• Dalton Community Centre (Sebright)
• Chisholm Trail (near Amon Drive)
• Burnt River Community Centre

Regional Medical Supports

• Mobile Virtual Triage and Assessment Centre
  S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena (55 Parkside Street) in Minden

If you have a health concern, paramedics are able to help access a doctor and support you on site 24/7, no appointment needed. Thank you to our colleagues at the County of Renfrew for their support during this state of emergency. In case of emergency, please call 9-1-1.

• If you are unable to reach 9-1-1 but are able to safely access your nearest EMS base, medical personnel will also be available 24/7 at the following locations:

Minden Hills: 12410 Hwy 35, Minden

Dysart: South Street, Haliburton, behind the arena

Highlands East: 18721 Hwy 118, Tory Hill

Contact and Reporting Info

Customer Service

Monday to Friday: 8:30am–4:30pm (705-324-9411 or 1-888-822-2225) Press 5 for Storm Updates

After hours emergencies: 1-877-885-7337

Online issue reporting

Stay Informed

• Call 911 for life-threatening emergencies
• Kawartha Lakes Police (Lindsay/Ops): 705-324-5252 (non-emergency)
• OPP (outside Lindsay/Ops): 1-888-310-1122
• Property damage? Contact your insurance company
• Website: www.kawarthalakes.ca/stormupdates
• Radio: Bounce 91.9 FM, Country 105.1 FM
• Social: Facebook, X (Twitter)
• Handouts at local stores, warming rooms, libraries and more

• Road closures: www.municipal511.ca

• Sign up for municipal alerts via Jump Inbox: www.kawarthalakes.ca/subscribe

Media Inquiries