Residents on Pelee Island have not had hydro for a month, but you would never know it according to Mayor Ray Durocher.
A cable feeding hydro to the island was damaged over the winter, and Durocher told BlackburnNews.com repairs are taking a little longer than anticipated.
"It was scheduled for April 4, but the weather prevented it, so they started April 5," he said.
When crews pulled it up, they found an anchor and fishing nets tied around the line.
"There was a very severe wind storm, and the ice was pushed up against it," explained Durocher. "It's not an emergency. Everything is running fine."
The cable lies on the bottom of Lake Erie.
In the meantime, a generator is supplying the island with enough power that residents are hardly noticing the difference.
"Ontario Hydro flew in maybe eight or nine loads of fuel on an airplane. That was about two weeks ago, and we're running pretty steady on the generator," he said.
About 235 people are registered residents on the island, but with some vacationing in warmer climes, Durocher said about 100 people are living there now.
Islanders have some experience with extended power outages. Durocher said it happened about five or six years ago when a freighter pulled up the cable while dragging its anchor.
At that time, a smaller generator was keeping the heat on, and the lights lit, but he said a new generator was installed about two years ago.
Durocher said he was not given a timeline to expect the repairs to wrap up. He admits it could be a problem if the power outage drags into the summer months as people draw more power with their air conditioners.
Busy season on Pelee Island usually starts May 1.
