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TORONTO, July 9, 2013 /CNW/ - Hydro One will continue to work through the night to restore customers who are without power as a result of flood related outages.

Yesterday approximately 126mm of rain reportedly fell over a two hour period resulting in flash flooding. Hydro One's Manby Transmission Station (TS) and its Richview TS in the western part of the City were significantly flooded causing outages that, at the peak, impacted approximately 400 - 500,000 customers in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). By 5:00 am this morning, the Company had restored power to 90% of the impacted residents.

Hydro One reports that flooding and water damage to critical equipment at both Manby and Richview stations is extensive. Initial restoration efforts involved removing water from its facilities, drying electricity equipment and assessing damage and making repairs to equipment.

Currently, approximately 45,000 customers remain without power. The Company advises that some impacted customers will continue to be without power overnight.

"We will work around the clock until we get customers back online," said Carmine Marcello, President and CEO, Hydro One.  "We have our best people dedicated to fixing the issue and we will not stop until we get it done.  We appreciate people's patience and are committed to restoring the remaining customers as quickly as possible."

Hydro One reconfigured its GTA electricity system to restore power to as many people as possible. For this reason, the system is not yet stabilized and we are working with Toronto Hydro to find ways to reduce pressure on the system. Part of this effort includes implementing intermittent power outages. This effort is coordinated in a manner that minimizes  disruption  while balancing the needs of the system.

Hydro One will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available.

SOURCE: Hydro One Inc.