NEXT
Freezing rain is forecast to keep falling into Sunday, with 20 to 30 mm of ice building up on lines and trees. You're running the hydro control centre overnight. Outages will spread across the city, and every downed wire has to be made safe before anyone can restore the street it's on.
Hospitals, a pumping station and a sewage pumping station each have a backup clock. You have six line crews, two fuel trucks, and mutual aid from other utilities if you ask for it in time.
Your first move: when the first outages come in, send crews to make the downed wires safe, and ask for mutual aid early. It takes about ten hours to arrive.
Choose your level. A higher level adds objectives.
A fictional scenario modelled on Toronto's December 2013 ice storm, the reference event for the city's grid planning (more than 40 hours of freezing rain, 30+ mm of ice, 416,000 customers without power). Real place and facility names are used for orientation only. The events, people and decisions are invented and don't describe how Toronto Hydro, Toronto Water or the City of Toronto operate; not affiliated with them. The map is schematic, not to scale. Not utility operations or emergency-management advice.