How three families coped with a major storm and power outages

Whether it was intermittent satellite signals, telephone or hydro flickering or total loss of power, as well as ice- and snow-covered trees and blocked roadways nearly every corner of St. Joseph Island felt the wrath of Mother Nature's fury.

SooToday spoke with some residents of St. Josephs Island impacted by a winter storm and power outages over four days. 

Families said preparation is among the most valued tools residents living in rural Ontario can employ to survive and bounce back from weather events like the recent storm.

Bob and Peggy Burton, 86 of Hilton Township are happy to have power fully restored after three days due to last week’s storm.

When the storm hit Burton’s daughter, Donna Alexander, dodged fallen limbs across the Base Line to reach her parent’s home and be with them during the outage. 

Alexander’s husband, Doug, hauled water and connected the generator to run the furnace. Food was cleaned out of the fridge and freezer and taken to family’s appliances in Hilton Beach. Cooking was done on a propane stove outside.

Neighbours across the road ensured the Burtons’ driveway was cleaned.

“It was family and neighbours helping neighbours,” Alexander said. “That generator saved us.”

Bob’s main concern was the furnace’s connection to the generator. Keeping the house warm also kept the water pipes from freezing.

Alexander saw Hilton Township’s roads truck make numerous trips up and down the Base Line.

“He must have made six trips,” she said. 

A second of Burton’s daughters, Susan, of Richards Landing made regular coffee runs to the house. The landing did not lose power.

Bob is on oxygen and uses it only when needed. Not knowing how long the power was to be out, Bob was able to conserve the O2.

“Dad’s had little daily activity so he didn’t need as much oxygen,” Alexander said. “Could they (parents) have done this on their own, no.”

Had the Burton’s been without hydro much longer they would have had to move out of the house. 

“My parents were always good at preparing the family in the event of a power outage,” Alexander said. “Dad said, the world doesn’t care if Bob Burton is out of power but Bob Burton does.”

Amanda Bonin-Farquhar and her two sons, Liam 11 and Owen 10, the outage was an experience they won’t forget.

“We were without a heating source for 22.5-ish hours,” she said. “No water, heat, or obviously, no electricity.”

The hydro went out to the Hilton Township home on Dec. 30 at about 5:30 p.m. and returned on Dec. 31 at 5:50 p.m.

We ended up sleeping at home, cold, but bundled up and headed into town for a shower and some warmth at a family member's house.”

The power came on briefly for about 35 minutes, then turned off again. 

Bonin-Farquhar said when she contacted Algoma Power the gentleman was very nice.

“He put a "ticket" in for me, stating that of our power was on, even briefly, the "ticket" would be fulfilled so he'd put another in,” she explained. 

The only damage to her rented home was to the trees behind the house. 

“They made the most amazing yet terrifying noises as they broke,” she said. “I informed my landlord at 17 hours in, that I was concerned for the pipes, however; thankfully, they were fine.”

Liam thought the outage was, “weird” because they never had an outage for that long.

“Our house runs on a furnace so it got really cold,” Bonin-Farquhar​​​​​​​ said. “Owen said, it was kind of cool being pitch black and having to use flashlights.”

For Pat and Karen Garside last week’s storm wasn’t as bad as they expected.

The Hilton Township couple lost power on Dec. 30 at about 6:15 p.m. and came back on Dec. 31 at approximately 10:15 p.m. 

“We always lose the use of our phone when the power goes out,” Karen said. “We had a lot of treetops and branches break off around us but luckily none near the house. There is still some cleanup but nothing that couldn’t wait.”

A section of farm fence was crushed by branches and the ribbon electric fence was torn in half. 

“We were fortunate to have a generator and Pat loves camp food so the Coleman stove came in handy,” she said. “We always try to have some propane bottles ready just in case. We hung the Coleman lantern and read some books that night.”

The next day containers were filled with water from the lake knowing it would be a while before the power came back on. 

“We were one of the lucky ones with a short outage,” Karen said. “This was by far the worst ice storm I can recall. It's hard to believe that so much beauty and destruction can go hand in hand.”