Ice storm leaves thousands without power, damages homes across London, Ont.

CTV London's Reta Ismail checks in with the City of London after an ice storm in the city.

Thousands of residents were left without power, and dozens of homes were damaged after an ice storm swept through London on Boxing Day, bringing down trees and coating roads and vehicles in thick ice.

As of Saturday morning, the City of London said it had roughly 400 calls waiting in the queue for service as crews worked to clear roads and respond to reports of fallen trees.

“We are doing our best. We triage the calls that come in based on getting roads opened first, and trees that have landed on houses,” said Kat Hodgins, manager of forestry operations for the City of London.

Some residents said the damage happened suddenly and without warning.

“Watching the World Juniors and the World Junior Canadian team was up. And then suddenly I heard the strange sound. And the next thing I knew, all the glass from our sliding patio door exploded and into the house,” said Frank Wheatley, whose home was damaged when a city-owned tree fell from a park behind his house.

The storm also triggered widespread power outages across the city. London Hydro said it brought in industry partners to help restore electricity as quickly and safely as possible.

“We are still dealing with a lot of dangerous situations here. As you’ve seen and as the public has seen, even chipping ice off their cars, there is a lot of ice still out there,” said Matt Quin, director of corporate communications with London Hydro.

At the peak of the storm, roughly 20,000 London Hydro customers were without power. By Saturday morning, that number had dropped to fewer than 1,000 as crews continued restoration work.

City officials are urging residents to avoid damaged trees and downed power lines and to report hazards as cleanup efforts continue.

“If people have limbs down, whether from city trees or private trees, and they’re impacting hydro lines, that’s not something the city can deal with and tell our teammates at London Hydro have been there,” added Hodgins.