Standing on their doorstep with the door wide open because the temperature was about the same inside as out, Danielle Young and her two kids let out a big cheer.

Griffin, 4, stuck a big thumbs-up out to the Toronto Hydro crew working on the lines across the street, but it was 2-year-old Hazel who summed it up best: “The power’s back on!”

As the bulb above their heads lit up for the first time in six days, Young, who is eight-and-a-half months pregnant, heaved a sigh of relief. After a week of moving her family around from house to house, she could finally turn her mind to the task at hand: preparing for a new baby.

“There have been a couple of nights when it’s been pretty chilly,” said her husband, Jason Kenemy. “But the big thing is that we had no idea it would last this long.”

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Ninety-four per cent of those who lost power had been reconnected to the grid by Saturday morning, but for the approximately 15,000 addresses that remain, Christmas 2013 will be remembered as a long, cold and dark week.

Toronto Hydro CEO Anthony Haines expressed hope that everyone might be reconnected by Sunday, though additional blackouts could push that target back several days.

“I can see the end line now,” said Haines. “It’s right there. I can see it coming. I just can’t tell you the hour that we’re going to cross.”

Haines said the weather has been wreaking havoc on efforts to finish reconnecting the 300,000 households that had their electricity and heat cut off after last Saturday’s devastating ice storm.

Overnight Friday, hydro crews had gotten the number of customers without power down to 19,000, Haines said, but an unexpected blackout shot that number back up to 25,000.

“It’s still a very fluid situation with volumes up and down,” he said.

The Toronto Community Housing Corp. has also suffered setbacks. CEO Eugene Jones said crews got the number of units without power down to 40 on Friday before that number doubled when an entire building was knocked out.

The Toronto District School Board says all but three childcare facilities will reopen Monday with the exceptions of Broadlands, Fairmount and Hillmount. They will remain closed due to problems related to the ice storm.

Ironically, last Sunday when the storm subsided, the Young-Kenemy family still had power and thought they had made it through unscathed. But that myth was dispelled at 5 p.m. that night, when only Kenemy and the kids were home.

“The lights are out, the phones are out and I go outside and see the whole neighbourhood’s out. I’ve got the kids and my cell is saying ‘emergency calls only.’ I’m feeling a little vulnerable here,” said Kenemy. “It was a moment of panic.”

After spending a first cold night at home, the family packed out to Kenemy’s sister’s place. Neighbours texted on Monday to say the whole area had its power back. But soon a second message came: Your house is still dark.

A large branch had taken out the cable that connects Young and Kenemy’s house with the electrical poles across the street. It had damaged the electrical connection on the side of their house and no electrician could come by to repair it until Friday at the earliest.

So they moved again to Young’s mother’s place — joined by another sister who had also lost her power — and had a big, impromptu family Christmas.

“It was fun!” Young said. “It wasn’t expected. The gifts weren’t wrapped, but it was great in the end.”

Warmer temperatures have made it easier for people like Young and Kenemy to cope without electricity, but they’re also making hydro workers’ jobs much more dangerous.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford reported that a hydro employee in Hamilton was struck in the head by a piece of falling ice, though he was saved from severe injury by his hard hat. Toronto EMS transported a 45-year-old man to hospital Saturday morning after he was also struck in the head by falling ice.

Throughout the post-storm crisis, officials noted that there were no fatalities from electrocution, falling branches or carbon monoxide.

While 80 traffic signals are still out, the 200 bucket trucks and 200 forestry trucks continue to work around the clock, now aided by Hydro One workers from the outreaches of the city. Forty crews are out clearing debris and 40 more are filling potholes, while 50 forestry crews are out doing triage of the work ahead, Ford said.

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Call volumes to fire and EMS are down from their peaks, but still above normal as city officials allowed themselves to express optimism that the ice storm chaos would soon be over.

Over the last few days, Kenemy has been making trips back and forth to the house to check on things: draining the pipes and emptying out a freezer filled with food — now spoiled — for the baby.

On Saturday, he discovered that the garage had been broken into and the lawn mower was gone.

So when the Toronto Hydro truck arrived in the early afternoon, it didn’t come a minute too soon. Bill McCallum, a hydro worker with 29 years’ experience, arrived just after 2 p.m. Soon his partner, Brian Trepanier, another hydro worker with more than 20 years’ experience, was up on a ladder laying out a new cable.

“People have been so nice to us,” McCallum said. “One lady tried to give me a hundred bucks today.”

At precisely 2:54 p.m., a few hours shy of six full days, the lights at the Young-Kenemy house came back on.

Local city Councillor Paula Fletcher had gotten involved when she learned of their predicament.

“I’m still finding people who are out on day seven and they’re in trouble. This family, expecting a baby and not being able to prepare, they really needed help. I rung every bell,” she said.

Fletcher was dismayed by the disorganization around restoring power.

“What I’ve learned in this is that the elderly, pregnant and those with small children need to be at the top of the priority list,” she said.

But as Torontonians flick the switch and turn back to their daily lives, it’s not without a few lessons learned during the blackout.

“The best thing about this is that the community has totally rallied,” said Young. “Everyone’s been inviting us over. Neighbours we don’t even know well have invited us into their homes.”

“The kids, they get the cold. It’s good to realize the importance of all these things (like electricity) that we have all the time,” said Kenemy. “But we’ve got to get ready for a baby, so I’m glad we got taken care of and hope that everyone else gets taken care of, too.”

Network of helpers

Those looking for help now have one more place to turn. Mark Walker and others at flo-partners.com have set up a system to match those in need of help with those with help to offer.

Walker says he’s had many offers of help online, but would like anyone seeking help to call 1-877-368-7741 or log onto http://flo-partners.com/home-for-the-holidays-ice-storm-help .

Whether you’re looking for a place to stay, someone to look after your pets, or just someone to check on a relative, Walker has a network of people signed up and ready to help.