Like many other cities, Guelph was preparing for the worst in the aftermath of hurricane Sandy, but the city seems to have gotten off lightly.
“We were not impacted very much at all by hurricane Sandy,” said Guelph Hydro spokesperson Sandy Manners.
Though there was one power outage affecting about 2,000 homes in the south end Monday night, it lasted only minutes between 9 and 10 p.m., she said.
“Other than that, it was all very small outages at individual homes,” she said.
Guelph Hydro does not know exactly what caused the south-end power outage, because the system was able to reconnect itself and the hydro company did not need to send repair crews to the area, Manners said.
“It’s a pretty good guess that it would be a tree limb,” she said.
The post-tropical storm brought wind gusts of almost 60 kilometres per hour overnight and rain showers that are expected to continue throughout the week.
According to a posting on the Ward 2 blog, the weather conditions were responsible for the city’s decision to close Speedvale Avenue between Victoria Road and Stevenson street, because conditions has made the road, which is currently under construction, unsafe.
“With weather warnings for the next three days indicating extensive rain and winds, keeping the road open would make the condition of the road worse,” said the Oct. 29 posting.
A detour will remain in place until the contractor is able to access the site and improve road conditions, it said.
There are also poor road conditions on Victoria Road and it is closed from Victoria East Golf Course to Arkell Road. Meanwhile, construction inspectors are monitoring conditions on Alice Street, the posting said.
Around the city, downed trees and branches did their share of damage overnight Monday.
Just before 8 p.m., a downed tree hit a hydro pole at the corner of Gordon Street and Dean Avenue, a police news release said.
An hour later, another downed tree hit a light standard at the corner of Woolwich Street and Tiffany Street, it said.
At around 9:30 p.m., two downed trees damaged private property – one hitting two parked cars in a driveway on Normandy Street, and the other hitting two houses on Lyon Avenue, damaging the roofs, the release said.
Guelph Hydro was kept busy, with crews out until 4:30 a.m. dealing with minor outages and making sure everyone was safe, said Manners.
But overall, there were fewer issues than anticipated.
“There was no more activity than we would normally have in the case of a normal fall storm,” said Manners. “But we were prepared for the worst.”
For anyone who is still without power, Manners asks that they make sure to call Guelph Hydro to make sure the company is aware of the problem. During regular business hours, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., call 519-822-3010; outside of these hours, call 519-822-3014.