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More than 90,000 hydro customers were still without power last night as repair crews worked to restore service to Ontario's wind-battered residents.

Yesterday, Hydro One dispatched 1,250 workers and enlisted the help of local utilities to repair power lines that went down in the weekend storm, which saw hurricane-like winds of up to 115 kilometres an hour. As of last night, crews had managed to restore power to at least 145,000 customers out of the 235,000 who were originally affected.

The utility estimated that the majority of customers would have service restored by the end of today. However, a spokesperson said that some people living in more remote areas may not have power until Wednesday or Thursday.

“At this point in time, Bancroft, Huntsville, Parry Sound, Bracebridge and Minden are the hardest hit areas,” Hydro One spokeswoman Laura Cooke said. “Following a significant storm, there tend to be power outages due to fallen trees and these are heavily wooded areas, so there are a higher number of outages,” she said. Ms. Cooke added that the utility is giving priority to repairing lines that serve the largest number of people.

“Where my cottage is, I don't think there's anyone within a mile who has power,” said Craig Wilson, 53, who is staying at his cottage at Lake of Bays, near Huntsville.

Mr. Wilson, who is chopping wood to heat his cottage and keep his pipes from freezing, had to visit his mother in Bobcaygeon, 136 kilometres away, in order to shower.

“They're telling me [power will be back] tomorrow night by 10 p.m. and I hope so because my daughter and her friends are coming up tomorrow for New Year's, so if they don't get [the power] up, then we'll have problems because of the toilets and whatnot,” Mr. Wilson said.

The abnormal winter weather continued to wreak havoc in other ways yesterday. Officials worked to contain flooding that resulted from the rapid snow melt in some areas.

In New Hamburg, 30 kilometres west of Waterloo, the Grand River Conservation Authority issued a flood warning.

“The flood level [of the Nith River] was the second highest ever recorded – and we started keeping records in 1951,” said Dave Schultz, manager of communications for the Grand River Conservation Authority. If not for a system of reservoirs on the Grand River, Mr. Schultz said, “there would be considerable flooding in many communities.” Although the system is coping well, he warned that parents should keep children and pets away from river areas.

Both the wind storm and the flooding can be attributed to unusual temperature swings, said David Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada.

“To be having so much change within a three-week period is unusual,” he said, noting “this is something that even by Ontario standards seems wacky.”

Although Mr. Phillips said he expects that most of the unusual fluctuations have ended for the time being, he noted that Environment Canada issued a wind warning for Owen Sound yesterday. However, those winds were expected to have died down by this morning.