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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, January 3, 2014 | 6 A well-deserved `thank you' Days before Christmas, residents usually expect busy malls and the hustle and bustle at home while putting the nishing touches on decorating, wrapping gifts and preparing feasts. No one imagined an ice storm would hit on Dec. 22 and nearly incapacitated Halton Region and the neighbouring GTA. Despite its best efforts, Oakville Hydro told the Oakville Beaver Monday, more than two dozen homes were still in the dark for Christmas, but that fares much better in comparison to the nearly 200,000 in Toronto. However, it is precisely because of Oakville Hydro's efforts and the help of hydro crews from Goderich, Ont. and London, Ont., that the majority of Oakvillians had electricity in time for the holidays -- and to that we must give Oakville Hydro our deepest gratitude and appreciation. By Monday, just three customers needed power connected; initially, approximately 25,000 Oakville Hydro customers were deprived of electricity. Oakville Hydro president Rob Lister said in these cases, damage had been done to private property, which customers had to get repaired by a certi ed contractor before the local utility could reconnect the power. Oakville was not the worst-hit municipality in Halton, with hundreds of Milton and Burlington hydro customers, and approximately 1,000 in Halton Hills remaining in the dark as of last Friday (Dec. 27). In a show of true community spirit, Oakville Hydro dispatched crews to assist the local utilities in Burlington, Milton and Halton Hills. "We've got crews here doing trouble work and clean-up work and then we have a crew dispatched to Milton Hydro, Halton Hills Hydro and Burlington Hydro. We also have staff over helping the Town of Oakville with its forestry work," Lister told the Beaver last week. "We're going to continue to support those three utilities with crews until they are at the point where they no longer require the crews. We are going to continue to support the Town forestry people in general forestry clean-up work related to power outages." As the cleanup from the aftermath of the storm continues in Oakville, we must also thank the Town's Forestry Services and the Region staff who are working diligently to reopen our trails and parks to once again be enjoyed safely by the community. The Town and Halton Region will provide enhanced bulk brush collection services to Oakville residents starting Monday (Jan. 6) to Jan. 31. For more information, please visit www.oakville. ca. Editorial "Connected to your Community" Letters to the Editor 447 Speers Road, Oakville ON, L6K 3S4 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Editorial Department: (905) 632-0588 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 52 | Number 2 The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Vice­President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Halton Region Editor in Chief Advertising Director NEIL OLIVER DAVID HARVEY JILL DAVIS DANIEL BAIRD Managing Editor Hydro crews from Goderich, Ont. and London, Ont. came to help Oakville Hydro get the power back on in the aftermath of the ice storm that hit Dec. 22. Pictured on Monday, Dec. 23 at Fourth Line, south of Speers Road, at a house that needed its power line replaced, are, from left, Brad Lapp (Goderich Hydro), Damir Ibrahimagic (Oakville Hydro) and Luke Shephard (Goderich Hydro). In back is a Goderich Hydro truck. | photo by Riziero Vertolli ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or www.facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) ANGELA BLACKBURN RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Business Manager Director of Production SANDY PARE MARK DILLS My View The ice storm through the eyes of a young teen Alex Gordienko Oakville resident, 14 MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Director of Distribution CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager A recent storm of ice and rain swept Oakville, as well as the rest of Southern Ontario and Quebec. Happening during the night, the storm evoked surprise from many people who woke up to nd the beautiful sight of rows of trees and shrubs covered with a thin but noticeable layer of shiny, transparent ice. The hopes of a beautiful winter day were instantly turned around when it became apparent that there were many Oakville residents without power. Everything from the microwave to the heating system was rendered useless. Caught by surprise, it took a minute to process what had happened. Perhaps a power line fell over or was hit by a fallen tree. It turned out to be the latter, as we looked outside and witnessed the fall of a branch on the road. Not only was the electricity in homes affected by this icy onslaught, cars had been crushed or dented by a downpour of heavy wood and ice. Sidewalks, patios and roads were turned into skating rinks. Everything was quiet inside the house and out. The usual hum of the heating system was now gone, and since no one knew how long the power outage would last, no one dared step outside and let the cold air in. During this episode, an interesting question came to my mind: where does freezing rain come from? Although a little tangential, it is imperative to understand at least some of the science behind this rare occurrence. First, snow falls from the clouds as it usually does, but then enters a layer of warm air where snow is melted into fresh water. As the newly-formed water droplets plummet towards the ground, they get super-cooled once again by the cold air above the earth's surface. The water gets cold enough that when it touches anything, it freezes solid almost instantly. This dangerous natural phenomenon causes trees, and almost anything else, to be outlined in an icy coat, perfect for impressive pictures. Although power in most of Oakville was restored in less than a day, there were areas, such as York region, that remained without electricity for days. More than 200,000 people in Toronto spent their holidays away from home as they still did not have their power restored. Hopefully, the storm that came to pass is in fact a rarity, and will not be seen again in Ontario for the rest of this season. Proud official media sponsor for: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Proud official media sponsor for: OPC Ontario Press Council Defending principles to inspire public trust The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 5040 Mainway, Unit 1, Burlington, L7L 7G5 or via email to; ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.