FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Saturday, September 22, 2018 11:22am
(Ottawa) – Ottawa Police have been fully engaged in this response.
Our first focus was assisting in the rescue efforts and security in the areas affected by the tornado.
We immediately called in the necessary resources and our Emergency Services Unit so that we could respond to the scene and continue to provide service to the rest of the city.
Our frontline officers and our communications centre personnel did an excellent job and I want to thank them for their professionalism in this response.
I also want to thank our community. I was on scene last night in Dunrobin and it was inspiring to see how we come together when there are people in need.
We also immediately increased our police presence in areas of our city affected by the power outage.
At this time, we have no reports of social disorder calls you would associate with a blackout.
We will be maintaining an enhanced and visible presence in areas without power throughout this outage.
Ottawa Police are restricting access to the affected areas in Dunrobin and the Greenbank area. These are still active scenes and we need to keep the area as clear as possible.
Please avoid the areas and do not attempt to visit to see the damage or take pictures.
We are also asking residents sheltering in place in the affected areas to remain in their residences.
Traffic disruptions are still an issue. Traffic lights in some parts of the city are still down. Please treat them as a four way stop and use patience when driving.
While we are able to maintain and respond to all calls we ask that residents use 911 for emergencies only.
We also ask that residents delay non-emergency calls for services so that we can focus on priority calls and focus on our proactive work in areas affected by the outage.
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