Montreal worst hit by power outages after Wednesday’s blizzard
Ottawa:
More than 1.2 million people were without power in Ontario and Quebec, Canada’s two most populous provinces, after heavy rain and strong winds toppled power lines Thursday morning in the country’s southeast.
Up to 1,000 workers were trying to restore power in Quebec on Thursday and Thursday morning, the province’s electricity provider said, warning there could be more outages yet.
“We are confident we can restore power to some affected customers today,” Hydro-Québec said in a statement. “Unfortunately, it is already expected that some customers will still be without power on Friday and into this weekend.”
About 1.1 million people in Quebec and about 167,000 in Ontario were without power as of 10:35 a.m. (1435 GMT), according to Poweroutage.com. Ontario and Quebec account for more than half of Canada’s total population of approximately 39.6 million.
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said that in Ottawa, crews expected to restore power to a large portion of the roughly 65,000 affected customers by the afternoon.
He said some areas in the national capital “remain dangerous due to falling debris and power cuts affecting traffic signals”.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was scheduled to speak about his government’s budget in Montreal on Thursday, offered to provide federal aid if needed.
According to Hydro-Québec, Montreal is among the worst hit by power outages following Wednesday’s snow storm.
Trudeau said on Twitter, “We’re thinking of everyone in Quebec and eastern Ontario affected by yesterday’s storms — and we’re thanking the crews who are clearing roads and restoring power. “