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Kawartha Lakes – The City of Kawartha Lakes Emergency Operations Centre met this afternoon and received updates from all departments and the HKPR District Health Unit. While we’re beginning to see parts of the municipality come back online with power, most of our rural areas are still without power.
While we empathize with residents that want to clean-up their properties and neighbourhoods immediately, we ask that you continue to be patient with us as we prioritize areas of the municipality that continue to be without power.
The focus continues to be on power restoration, which may take several more days in most of the City, especially the rural areas. Hydro One is in the process of bringing in several additional trucks and crews over the next couple of days to hopefully restore power to those without, faster.
Intermittent cell coverage and internet access is continuing to affect communications throughout the municipality.
The weather over the next couple of days could be problematic. There are freezing rain warnings for Kawartha Lakes starting on Wednesday. The freezing rain will turn into regular rain as the weather gets warmer late Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
To stay informed: Visit our website, watch for roadside signs, social media and printed handouts at multiple locations throughout the municipality reiterating important information.
We will continue to monitor storm impacts and provide updates on facility status, road conditions, and municipal services.
Please continue to avoid unnecessary travel as Hydro One crews respond to downed power lines and power outages and the City responds to downed trees and tree limbs on roads.
Roads
Crews continue to make progress clearing the roads of debris. With a little help from the weather, we are optimistic that we’ll have all roads that don’t have downed power lines on them open by the end of day on Wednesday April 2.
Please respect the barricades put in place by police and public works, they are there for your safety. Do not touch any downed power lines.
Please treat all intersections as 4-way stops. Most traffic lights have been restored but there are some still not functioning.
Multiple crews of contracted, Parks staff and other municipalities are assisting to clear the roads. We are prioritizing rural roads by redeploying resources to problem areas where and when possible. Road closures and conditions are available at www.municipal511.ca.
Please do not drag your brush and tree debris from the storm onto the road or sidewalks. We are working on a plan for storm debris clean-up to your property and will share details shortly.
To report an issue: www.kawarthalakes.ca/reportit
Fire
The entire municipality is under a Burn Ban for the month of April. Grass fires are easily started in early spring conditions. The burn ban is in place to ensure Fire Service resources are not deployed to deal with unnecessary fires. You can take your brush and tree debris from the storm to the Lindsay Landfill at no cost of disposal, or you can wait until May to have a controlled brush fire with a permit.
https://www.kawarthalakes.ca/en/living-here/burn-bans-permits-and-by-laws.aspx
Generator Safety: During power outages, many people rely on generators, fireplaces, and fuel-fired appliances for heat and electricity. While these are helpful, improper use can lead to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, which is deadly. Generator Safety Tips:
- Never run a generator indoors
- Place generators outdoors – Keep them at least 6 meters (20 feet) away from windows, doors, vents, and air intakes to prevent CO from entering your home.
- Store fuel safely
- Use proper connections
- Maintain your generator
Lindsay Transit
Service has resumed, including Limo Transit.
Landfill
Lindsay Landfill is open April 1 to April 4 from 8am to 5pm and April 5 (Saturday) from 8am to 3pm.
Bring your brush and tree debris from the storm to the landfills. No tipping fees will be charged for brush and tree debris from the storm until further notice. Tipping fees are only being waived for storm brush and tree debris, not for garbage or other materials.
Waste Collection
Missed collections will have double garbage collection the following week. Please hold on to your recycling until the next fibre/paper recycling week (week of April 14).
The urban areas of Bobcaygeon, Fenelon Falls, Lindsay and Omemee all have organics collection coming on Friday – please do not place any food packaging in your organics rollout cart. Food should be emptied from any packaging before putting it in your bins.
The rural areas of the municipality that don’t have organics collection can continue to dispose of their food waste as usual.
We are working on a plan for spoiled food waste and will share details when available.
Please note: Where possible, postponing non-essential septic disposal is appreciated.
City Administration
City offices are coming back online as the power returns. When offices start to open back up to the public, we will include them in our updates.
City Hall, 26 Francis Street, is open from 8:30am to 4:30pm. A warming room is available on the second floor, Victoria Room. Hydration stations and washrooms are available. Residents are welcome to charge their devices and warm up.
Human Services Offices in Lindsay and Haliburton remain closed.
Ward 5 By-Election
The election runs April 1 through 10. Online voting is open at 9am. In person help is available from 9am until 4:30pm at City Hall.
Parks and Recreation
All facilities and programming are cancelled until further notice.
Libraries
Some library branches are coming back online. The Dunsford, Lindsay, Oakwood and Omemee branches will be open on Wednesday April 2 for their regular branch hours. There will be no library programming on Wednesday.
Warming Centres
For those in need of water access, device charging, or a warm space, please feel welcome to visit our warming centres. Please bring refillable water bottles.
City Hall, Victoria Room
Wednesday April 2 and Thursday April 3, 8:30am to 4:30pm
Find City Hall on Google Maps
Victoria Park Armoury
Wednesday April 2 and Thursday April 3, 10am to 8pm
210 Kent Street West, Lindsay
Find the Armoury on Google Maps
Fenelon Falls Community Centre
Wednesday April 2 and Thursday April 3, 8am to 4pm
27 Veterans Way, Fenelon Falls
Find the Fenelon Community Centre on Google Maps
All other Community Centres are closed due to power outage.
The below Fire Station warming centres will be open Wednesday April 2 and Thursday April 3 from 8am to 6pm:
Bobcaygeon Fire Station
1 Duke Street, Bobcaygeon
Find Station 3 on Google Maps
Bethany Fire Station
88 Ski Hill Road, Bethany
Find Station 7 on Google Maps
Mariposa Fire Station
552 Eldon Road, Little Britain
Find Station 21 on Google Maps
Burnt River Station
186 Burnt River Road, Burnt River
Find Station 20 on Google Maps
Janetville Station
669 Janetville Road, Janetville
Find Station 9 on Google Maps
Boil Water Advisories
The health unit has rescinded the Sonya Drinking Water System and Pinewood Drinking Water System Boil Water Advisories (BWA).
There are still three active BWAs for residents within the following Drinking Water Systems. For more information, please review the advisories:
Woodfield Drinking Water System, Bethany
Manorview Drinking Water System, Bethany
All other drinking water systems remain operational and water is safe to drink.
Customer service
Our Call Centre is open during regular business hours Monday to Friday 8:30 to 4:30, call 705-324-9411 or 1-888-822-2225.
After Hours Municipal Emergencies call: 1-877-885-7337
Please report any issues concerning public health and safety online at www.kawarthalakes.ca/reportit.
Note: The Lindsay Service Centre located at City Hall (26 Francis Street) is open for in-person service. The Bobcaygeon, Coboconk and Omemee Service Centres are not open due to the power outage. If you need customer service support, please contact the call centre.
If you experience damage to your property: call your insurance company.
If you are experiencing risk to public health and safety: call 911.
School Board Cancellations
The Trillium Lakelands District School Board will close all schools, Virtual Learning Centres, education centres and child care centres in schools on Wednesday April 2.
The Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington (PVNC) Catholic District School Board is taking a school-by-school approach:
- Open: St. Dominic CES, St. Thomas Aquinas CSS, St. John Paul II CES, St. Mary CES
- Closed: St. Luke CES in Downeyville
Flood Prone Areas
Kawartha Conservation has issued a Watershed Conditions Statement - Flood Watch, in effect until April 3. Flood Watch - warns that flooding is possible. Municipalities, emergency services, and individual landowners in flood-prone areas should prepare.
To assist with flood preparedness, Kawartha Lakes Fire Rescue and Public Works have provided free sandbags at the following locations:
Fill-Your-Own Sandbags (bring a shovel)
- Ward Park Norland Community Centre (7675 Highway 35 North, Norland)
- Dalton Community Centre (13 Rumohr Drive, Sebright)
- Chisholm Trail (South of Black River Road near Amon Drive)
Pre-Filled Sandbags (Available starting the evening of March 19, 2025)
- Burnt River Community Centre (16 Somerville Centre Road, Burnt River)
Supplies are available on a first-come, first-served basis—please only take what you need.
Sand and bags locations are available at www.municipal511.ca.
Who To Call, When?
Please call 9-1-1 in an emergency.
If you're in Lindsay or Ops, call Kawartha Lakes Police Service:
We are receiving a large number of calls for service due to the ice storm.
Please use 911 for emergencies only.
For all others please call the non-emergency line at 705-324-5252.
If you're outside of Lindsay or Ops, call Kawartha Lakes OPP:
1-888-310-1122
Visit our website for a list of common issues and contact information: https://www.kawarthalakes.ca/en/living-here/who-to-call-when.aspx
Hydro One Update – restoration may take the rest of the week in some areas
Crews continue to work in full force alongside our contractors to restore power to customers. Crews have restored power to more than 783,000 customers since the start of the storm. We are preparing for additional freezing rain and wind in central and southwest regions. Wind speeds may not be considered severe in some areas but could cause damaged trees to fall and break which may slow our efforts and cause additional outages. Crews will continue to work around the clock and will not stop until power is restored. Given the severity and widespread damage caused by this storm, we expect restoration in the hardest hit areas to continue throughout the week. For remote areas, restoration may take longer.
Road access continues to be a challenge in hardest hit areas, along with safety concerns of trees and tree limbs coming down.
When an outage is reported, damage is assessed and the main powerlines that serve a community are prioritized to bring power back to the greatest number of customers. Then the focus is on clearing damage from lines that serve smaller groups of customers to get the power back on. In some cases after power is restored, it can go out again if crews are repairing damage or clearing debris on powerlines that are connected or nearby to make sure they can do their work safely. In these situations, customers can anticipate that power will be restored as soon as the repairs are made.
We know how difficult it is to be without power. We want to get you all back on as quickly as possible. We are sharing this information so that you can make decisions for you and your loved ones.
Stay clear of any fallen power lines. If you spot a fallen line, keep at least 10 metres back, even if it does not appear to be live. Report it to Hydro One at 1-800-434-1235.
Staying connected during the storm
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