Hydro One crews were expected to resume work at 7 am today after being pulled off the job for safety reasons on Friday night due to the winter storm, police said on Friday night.
Norfolk also pulled snow plow operators off the roads as the county declared a ‘significant weather event’ on Friday night. The crews will return when the weather and safety conditions improve.
Up to 40 trees remained down on Norfolk roads late Friday as a result of the winter storm that is hitting the county and other parts of the province.
The areas hardest hit by downed trees are in the former township of Houghton, South Walsingham and North Walsingham with most damage west of Highway 59 and south of McDowell Road, Norfolk OPP said in a media release late Friday night.
Sections of some roads are closed due to the downed trees.
Flooding resulted in the closure of some roads in the Port Dover area, said police.
In a storm warning update early Saturday, Environment Canada is warning of damaging wind gusts of up to 100 km-h in Norfolk County creating widespread blowing snow.
“Visibility will be suddenly reduced to zero at times in heavy snow and blowing snow,” said Environment Canada.
Officials are urgent people to avoid non-essential travel.
Five to 10 centimeters of snow are expected by Saturday morning.
“Blizzard conditions and higher snowfall amounts are possible near Lake Erie as a result of snow squalls,” said the national weather service.
Extreme cold and wind chill are expected to last throughout the weekend. At 7:30 am Saturday the temperature in Simcoe was -14 C, but with wind chill felt like -23 C, said Environment Canada.