A good neighbour will help someone in need, and Collingwood is doing what they can to help theirs.
During council's regular meeting on March 31, Mayor Yvonne Hamlin announced that the town would be sending workers, equipment, trucks, generators and training to Orillia and Springwater Township to help them dig out of the ice storm that blanketed the region over the weekend, with many parts of the county still dark as of Monday afternoon with no estimated time of restoration.
“Between our municipalities in Simcoe County, and on the other side in the Town of the Blue Mountains, if there’s a need, municipalities try to respond,” said Hamlin in an interview. “It’s about being good neighbours.”
Five Town of Collingwood staff will be going to Orillia along with municipal trucks, chainsaws and training for the equipment they’ll be bringing. Springwater will be receiving town chainsaws and two generators.
EPCOR, Collingwood’s power utility provider, will be loaning their wood chipper to Orillia to assist crews in breaking down wayward tree branches.
Many municipalities remain in a state of emergency as of Monday afternoon, including the City of Orillia, Peterborough, Muskoka and Oro-Medonte. In the Orillia area, some residents have been without power for two days and it could be more than 24 hours before hydro lines are repaired and power restored.
City crews and first responders have working around the clock in concert with the province, County of Simcoe to deal with the emergency and support clean up and resident safety. Volunteers were going door-to-door today to do wellness checks.
All schools were closed in Simcoe County on Monday and buses were cancelled, as were many recreation facilities. Some facilities have been converted to warming centres to ride out the emergency.
