School closures and other things you need to know

All schools run by the Ottawa Catholic School Board and the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board will be closed Monday as the city recovers from the tornadoes and storms that ripped through the region last Friday.

The school boards said they made the decision to close all their schools and board offices after consulting with the city’s emergency services.

“The safety of our students, families and staff is our top priority,” the Catholic school board announced Sunday afternoon.

“Given the significant number of schools that remain without power, and the continued repair work needed in our schools, we feel that this is the best way to ensure student and staff safety,” the public school board announced.

The closures also mean there will be no before- and after-school care, no extracurricular activities and no community use of schools. Childcare centres at the buildings will also be closed.

The Catholic board said it would post an update on its website Monday about plans for Tuesday.

The public board anticipated most schools and programs would resume operations Tuesday, but it planned to have updates by 4 p.m. on Monday.

Algonquin College issued a news release on Sunday evening advising students that its Ottawa campus would be “open for all regularly scheduled activity, including classes,” on Monday.

However, the advisory continued, some heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in some areas may be run at less than full capacity because the college has been working from temporary power supplies.

Hydro Ottawa was still trying to restore power to 70,000 customers as of late Sunday afternoon. Getting around Ottawa- Gatineau on Monday could be difficult.

Here’s what we knew as of deadline on Sunday.

SCHOOL CLOSURES

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board: All schools and the school board office are closed Monday. Ottawa Catholic School Board: All schools and the school board office are closed Monday.

Gatineau: Classes at Mont-Bleu Secondary School have been suspended for the week after fire on Friday damaged the school. Hadley Junior High School and Philemon Wright High School are closed Monday because of minor damage to the building and lawn from the tornado.

There were no closure notices from other area school boards as of 5 p.m. Sunday.

POWER

Hydro Ottawa continued to bring communities back online, but some neighbourhoods should expect to be without power on Monday.

During the last city briefing around 4:30 p.m. Sunday, officials said 70,000 customers were still without power.

At least one community, Arlington Woods, is estimated to get power back Monday evening, according to Hydro Ottawa.

The utility said the areas with the largest outages were Nepean (28,000 customers out) and Lincoln Heights (24,000).

ROADS

Traffic will be heavier Monday compared to the weekend and, combined with unpowered traffic lights, getting around the city will require patience. If you don’t have to drive in the city on Monday, it’s probably best not to. If your job allows it, it would be a good day to work at home.

Road users should treat malfunctioning traffic lights as fourway stops.

OC TRANSPO SERVICE

The Trillium Line was back in full service Sunday after being knocked off-line for part of the weekend.

OC Transpo bus service could be delayed Monday by power outages to traffic signals.

Elevators were out of service at Place d’Orléans, Lincoln Fields, Longfields, Westboro and Blair stations.

The most up-to-date information on Transpo operations can be found online.

STORM-DAMAGED MATERIAL AND GARBAGE

There are no changes to the curbside garbage collection schedule. The city says that, if you fill your green bin, you can place organics in cardboard boxes or leaf and yard waste bags.

Unless it’s for the scheduled garbage collection day, the city doesn’t want people placing trash on the curb.

The city encourages homeowners with property damage to contact their insurance companies, which will guide them through the next steps and debris removal. Renters should call their insurers and the property owners.

VISITING DAMAGED COMMUNITIES

Don’t play storm tourist when residents are trying to clean up.

Ottawa police ask that people avoid heavily damaged neighbourhoods.

City crews are trying to clean up debris as hydro workers stabilize the power supply.