By Thomas Smith

The worst ice storm since 1998, says Hydro One.

On the morning of Monday, March 31, the Township of Minden Hills met to declare a state of emergency in the aftermath of the ice storm that wrecked much of the county the weekend prior.

The announcement was made public in the afternoon at 3:30 p.m., with all township staff notified that their duties would be changing. Immediately, the staff worked together to transform the S. G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena into an information and warming centre.

Walking into the centre, there are calm faces and smiling staff. Staff that only days ago were working as custodial staff or the planning department or reception are now warmly greeting residents to the shelter, handing out coffee and snacks, and orderly signing people up for using the showers.

All hands on deck.

The afternoon of my visit, the town is black from a power outage. The lights came back on before getting to the shelter.

Jacob Cavers, a greeter who signs me in says that his first day of work for the township was on April 1, amidst the chaos.

“I thought it might be an April Fool’s Day joke,” said Cavers, who was hired to work in Building/By-law Services.

Spirits are high in the warming centre.

People sit in chairs of the lobby chatting, charging their phones, and enjoying hot coffee, tea, and soup offered by the township.

Candace McGuigan, director of community services, gives me a tour of the centre.

The gymnasium is filled with 45 cots, each with their own blanket and pillow provided by the Canadian Red Cross. While only a few have utilized the overnight services of the centre, preparation is key when it comes to managing emergency situations.

The warming centre has been open for 24 hours every day since Monday. While initially slow, visitors increased over the week through persistent lack of power in the county. Staff work in the warming centres all hours through the night, ensuring that it is a safe, warm, and welcoming place for everyone.

In the hallway, showers have large red occupied signs. McGuigan informs me that every shower is currently in use.

They are the hottest commodity in the warming centre.

People come from all over to take a hot shower, to charge their electronic devices, and even their hearing aids. McGuigan says that a hearing aid charger was something that they had not anticipated to be needed, but they managed to track one down for visitors quickly.

“Is this place running on a generator?” I ask McGuigan.

“No, unfortunately,” she said. “A backup generator is part of the emergency preparedness plan for 2025.”

The people in the warming shelter have been facing blackouts like everyone else, although infrequent, when compared to many areas in the county that remain without power.

Christine Coneybeare, a resident who lives near the Drag River said that she has not had power since Saturday, March 29 since 9 a.m. With the morning’s misty rain and repetition of rain like Saturday’s storm, she felt as though she had enough and decided to come to the centre for a hot shower.

Deep Bay Road resident Mac Todd visited the centre with a bag full of shower supplies. His property has also not had power for six days.

“We’ve got a generator but no shower,” said Todd. “So that’s why we’re here, rocking and rolling.”

Deep Bay Road was hit particularly hard from the ice storm, with several residents describing the road as a maze with the fallen trees covering the road.

Angelique Short, a resident who lives near downtown Minden says that her supply of wood was soaked from the freezing rain during the storm. With the power outages, her heat has been flickering on and off. Her brother’s property in Moore Falls had a tree fall and destroy his shed. Geoff Byford, resident of Judge Jordan Road, visited the warming and information centre to charge his cell phone. Byford says that he has had to rely on self sufficiency during the prolonged power outage.

With his wood burning stove and propane generator, Byford has remained relatively comfy and theorizes that the COVID-19 pandemic has made people better prepared for emergencies.

“On the first day of spring, I saw a pair of robins,” said Byford. “I haven’t seen them since. I wonder if they got the memo.”

Gilbert Perez and his three young girls travelled from the outskirts of Kinmount to the warming centre. He reports that broken trees remain scattered along his road.

“We are almost without propane,” said Perez. “This is the first shower the girls have had in three days.”

Perez says that they have a generator that they have been running for only four hours at a time. Their supply is dwindling at around seven per cent full. Since Saturday, Perez says that Budget Propane has been telling him to call back everyday, with no success.

“We keep being told we need to wait, and wait, and wait,” said Perez.

Guenter Horst, a resident of Minden on Bobcaygeon Road, says that this winter has been the nastiest that he has seen in over 50 years living in Ontario.

As of April 8, Minden Mayor Bob Carter announced that the warming centre will be staying open for the foreseeable future.

“We are grateful for staff and volunteer efforts, as well as the help offered by first responders, and the teams of support coming from throughout the province and the country,” he said. “The mutual support of the County and municipalities has been critical to recovery and we cannot thank them enough.”

Carter went on to thank the community for their patience, as the power has still not returned to many across the county at the time of press.

“While some of our residents were fortunate to experience just short power outages, many have been without any hydro service for longer than a week now,” said Carter. “(Many) are without generators, and are now also dealing with basement flooding, loss of food supplies due to lack of refrigeration, and massive property clean-up efforts while also managing full-time jobs and family needs.”

Carter encouraged all those in need to access the warming centre, or utilize the services of the on-site paramedics, who are stationed at the centre for 12-hour stretches.

As of April 9, the centre is open to the public from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. “Minden should be proud of how we all have pulled together and addressed this challenge,” said Carter. “I have received multiple comments from politicians, residents of other communities, and workers here to help us, that they have been extremely impressed with all the local people they have dealt with and how we work together.”