- New survey reveals most households
haven't thought about having an emergency preparedness
kit-
TORONTO, Dec. 7, 2023
/CNW/ - As winter officially approaches, a new survey conducted by
Innovative Research Group for Hydro One reveals that only 52 per
cent of Ontarians feel prepared to manage through an extended power
outage. The survey also highlights that while 28 per cent of
Ontarians have at least a semi-complete emergency preparedness kit
with some of the items they may need, nearly half don't have
anything prepared at all.
"Extreme weather events can happen at any time and sheltering in
place is a reality for many Ontarians as we saw during last year's
holiday storm. Not being able to safely travel makes it incredibly
important to ensure you have the items your family needs to be
without power for up to 72 hours," said Teri French, Executive Vice President, Safety,
Operations and Customer Experience, Hydro One. "We know life grinds
to a halt when the power goes out which is why our grid control
centre is always monitoring for potentially damaging weather and
our crews are available to respond 24/7."
Of the 87 per cent of Ontarians that don't have a fully complete
emergency preparedness kit, 39 per cent say it had never occurred
to them to have one and 11 per cent don't think having one is
necessary.
"On behalf of Ontarians, I'd like to thank Hydro One and their
crews for their ongoing work to prepare the electricity grid for
the upcoming winter season," said Caroline
Mulroney, President of the Treasury Board and Minister
responsible for Emergency Management Ontario. "Snow and ice storms
pose real dangers to individuals and critical infrastructure alike.
Keeping the lights on in the event of an emergency is an important
step to keeping Ontarians safe this winter. As the Minister
responsible for emergency management, I'm proud to work with our
partners, including Hydro One, to make sure people across
Ontario are safe and prepared this
winter."
Emergency preparedness
kit
Hydro One encourages Ontarians to prepare a personalized
emergency kit that reflects the needs of their family. Below is a
list of critical items to include:
- Water and food that won't spoil for all family members,
including pets
- A manual can opener
- Windup or battery-powered flashlight and radio
- Extra batteries
- Cash
- First aid kit and medical items
- Blankets
- Emergency numbers including Hydro One's outage line
1-800-434-1235
- Fully charged cellphone and a backup battery pack or a corded
phone; a cordless phone will not work in a power outage
Keep your emergency kit in a backpack and make sure everyone in
your home knows where to find it.
Hydro One also has a number of innovative outage tools available
for customers to report power outages and easily access updates
when and how they want including outage text alerts. When an outage
occurs, customers can report it by texting 92887 (WATTS), or by
using the company's outage map and app, or calling
1-800-434-1235.
Hydro One Limited (TSX:
H)
Hydro One Limited, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries,
is Ontario's largest electricity transmission and
distribution provider with approximately 1.5 million valued
customers, approximately $31.5 billion in assets as
at December 31, 2022, and annual revenues in 2022 of
approximately $7.8 billion.
Our team of approximately 9,300 skilled and dedicated employees
proudly build and maintain a safe and reliable electricity system
which is essential to supporting strong and successful communities.
In 2022, Hydro One invested approximately $2.1 billion in
its transmission and distribution networks, and supported the
economy through buying approximately $1.9 billion of
goods and services.
We are committed to the communities where we live and work
through community investment, sustainability and diversity
initiatives. We are designated as a Sustainable Electricity Leader™
by Electricity Canada.
Hydro One Limited's common shares are listed on the TSX and
certain of Hydro One Inc.'s medium term notes are listed on the
NYSE. Additional information can be accessed
at www.hydroone.com, www.sedarplus.com
or www.sec.gov.
Forward-Looking Statements and
Information:
This press release may contain "forward-looking information"
within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Words such as
"expect", "anticipate", "intend", "attempt", "may", "plan", "will",
"can", "believe", "seek", "estimate", and variations of such words
and similar expressions are intended to identify such
forward-looking information. These statements are not guarantees of
future performance or actions and involve assumptions and risks and
uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual
outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed,
implied or forecasted in such forward-looking information. Some of
the factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ
materially from the results expressed, implied or forecasted by
such forward-looking information, including some of the assumptions
used in making such statements, are discussed more fully in Hydro
One's filings with the securities regulatory authorities in
Canada, which are available on
SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Hydro One does not intend, and it disclaims
any obligation, to update any forward-looking information, except
as required by law.
SOURCE Hydro One Inc.