Premier Doug Ford met with a handful of residents in northwest Barrie on Friday evening during a stop at Sunnidale Park, which was heavily damaged from this past weekend's devastating ice storm.
Thousands of Barrie residents and businesses were left without power after the ice tore through the region last weekend.
BarrieToday asked Ford what lessons can be learned from the ice storm.
"The No. 1 issue is communication to residents," he said. "When their internet's down, their TVs are down, in some cases the fibre is down, so they don't have any communications ... some with a cellphone. But we're going to come up with a solution."
The premier also praised the "thousands and thousands" of volunteers who have jumped into action to help across parts of Ontario that were hit hardest.
"It's unbelievable, the support, and everyone volunteering," said Ford, who cited the Ontario Corps and the Salvation Army specifically.
Within a four-hour timeframe last Sunday, Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall said the premier had promised to dispatch more hydro workers to the city.
"Why is Barrie in such a good position? It's because people have come in to help from outside," the mayor said.
Ford said there have been crews from as far away as New Brunswick and Saskatchewan.
"They've come from everywhere," he said.
At the park, Ford was flanked by Nuttall, Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte MP Doug Shipley and MPP Doug Downey, Barrie-Innisfil MPP Andrea Khanjin, Deputy Mayor Robert Thomson and other politicians.
The arboretum at the popular city park is still filled with piles of debris from damaged trees. Along Sunnidale Road, there are numerous bundles of tree branches as the cleanup continues around town.
Starting next week, the City of Barrie will be getting assistance from several other Ontario municipalities to assist with the cleanup. Since the ice storm, the city says 26 crews have been out daily, including 24 chipper trucks.
Bundles of branches can be seen alongside Barrie streets throughout the city, waiting to be picked up in the coming days.
The city says operations crews from outside municipalities will start arriving next week with equipment to deal with the storm debris.
On Thursday, the city said the Barrie landfill had 720 customers, and 475 tonnes of brush were received in three days this week. In comparison, last April the landfill collected 700 tonnes of brush the entire month.
At 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Alectra Utilities announced that "all power has now been restored in Barrie," although BarrieToday has learned there are some residents still without electricity Friday evening. One resident who lives in the Burton Avenue area said they have been without power since last Sunday.
Anyone who is still without power is asked to call 1-833-ALECTRA.
Earlier on Friday, Ford was in the Orillia area, where he also promised better communication.
Simcoe County Warden Basil Clarke declared a state of emergency on April 2.
In Oro-Medonte, a rural township which was hit particularly hard by the ice storm, a special hotline has been established, while wellness checks began Thursday in Springwater Township.
Numerous area schools were also closed due to the storm.
The Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority also issued a flood warning due to ground saturation.
