Montreal | Downtown alive despite the storm

The temperature plays yoyo in Montreal Friday morning, but does not prevent visitors from doing their last Christmas shopping. Elsewhere in the province, wind and snow are disheveling Quebecers on the eve of the holidays, and depriving thousands of homes of electricity.

“We are ready, we are here! “says Steeve Messier, shovel in hand, at the corner of rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest and avenue Union in the morning of Friday. His job this morning: to make garbage cans, park benches and church squares accessible to the citizens of the neighborhood. It is in the rain-snow-wind mixture expected Friday in the metropolis that Mr. Messier begins his very first day in this profession, smiling.

A major winter storm has been battering Quebec, Ontario and the northeastern United States since Thursday evening. In the province, thousands of people are without electricity Friday morning.

In Montreal, wet snow that fell overnight changed to rain in the morning. The students being on leave, the streets are quiet. But the temperature does not prevent visitors from heading to the city center for the last Christmas shopping.

“We thought it would be worse than that! “, rejoices Véronique Brodeur, met in front of La Baie d’Hudson, in the company of her daughter and another 13-year-old teenager. The trio arrived from Mauricie yesterday. “The weather was nice, we hadn’t checked the weather forecast,” she adds. The plan for the day: take advantage of Montreal’s shops before heading back east, hoping that road conditions are safe.

A little further on, in Square Phillips, the young Joséphine Perani plays with the giant dominoes installed on the spot. It’s the joy of an improvised day off for this student from Montreal. Like thousands of others in Quebec, she started her Christmas break a day earlier than planned.

A few steps further, Christine Farran, who lives in Reunion, an island located east of Africa, has been visiting Montreal for a week. “I don’t know what it normally looks like, a snowstorm,” she remarks. For her, the white carpet still in place is already impressive. She hopes that snowflakes will add to the raindrops during the day.

“We’re lucky, it’s mild,” also underlines Paul de Bellefeuille, alias Adonis, who hands a glass to passers-by at the entrance to La Baie to collect small change. The awning of the historic store protects it well from bad weather, but not from lack of traffic. ” It’s sure that [la collecte] is a little less strong than usual, he adds. But people are really generous at Christmas! »

A few minutes after passing The Press, the expected deluge begins to fall on the city center. While tucking in their shoulders, passers-by pull up their hoods, open their umbrellas and hurry on.