Cleanup continues from Sunday’s ice storm, with Woolwich Township still under a state of emergency and some Cambridge-area homes possibly without power until the weekend.

Officials with Cambridge-North Dumfries Hydro tell CTV News they still have about 500 homes without power, and some of them won’t be back to normal until Saturday.

One of those homes belongs to Ed Oliver, who hooked up a generator Monday morning after going more than 24 hours without hydro.

He tells CTV News he hasn’t seen any repair crews on his street in southwest Cambridge, but figures they’re probably still working on main lines before getting to his area – and regardless, doesn’t expect the power outage to dampen his family’s Christmas.

“It’ll make it a little colder. You just go with it, have a couple more eggnogs and hopefully that does the trick,” he says.

On Greenfield Road in North Dumfries, Karen Carman and her family are hoping the lights go on before the Christmas dinner they’re scheduled to host.

“I don’t think we’re going to be successful trying a 30-pound turkey on the barbecue,” she says.

A wood-burning fireplace was able to keep parts of the Carman home warm, but its heat didn’t extend to the bedrooms, where blankets and duvets were in high demand.

Meanwhile, Woolwich Township officials declared a state of emergency Sunday night, and announced Monday morning that it would remain in place until “a substantial level of recovery” takes place.

The Woolwich Memorial Centre in Elmira is open as an emergency warming centre until 9 p.m. Monday, reopening Tuesday from 7 a.m. to noon.

Sunday’s storm is being called one of the most damaging in Ontario’s history, leaving tens of thousands without power more than 24 hours after it hit.

Kim Nihls, Kitchener’s supervisor of tree service, calls the storm “comparable” to the July blast that left trees down across the city for weeks.

“It’s widespread; every part of the city has been affected,” he tells CTV News.

“I’m guessing it’s going to be three to four weeks, minimum, just to get the sidewalks and roads
(cleaned up).”

At the peak of the storm Sunday, more than 250,000 Ontarians were without power.

Even when the freezing rain tapered off, more outages were reported – as ice buildup caused trees to fall as the day went on.

When those trees fell on hydro lines, the power supply went with them.

Environment Canada reports that Waterloo Region was hit by 15 to 25 millimetres of freezing rain, with similar amounts falling in Toronto, Hamilton, Barrie and the Niagara area.

Further south, warmer temperatures meant most of the precipitation fell as rain – in Tillsonburg, more than 40 mm of rainfall was recorded.

Looking ahead, Environment Canada forecasts below-freezing temperatures for much of the week, meaning ice is unlikely to melt anytime soon.

That means further strain will be put on ice-covered branches, creating the potential for further damage and power outages.

“There’s a very real possibility that we’re going to experience much more damage,” Nihls says.

“It would have been nice to have all that ice melt, but unfortunately it hasn’t.”

Temperatures will stay cold through the holidays, although little snow will fall.

In Guelph, a warming centre has been set up at City Hall, which is open around the clock for anyone affected by power outages.