Ice storm over southern Quebec | In search of electricity (and a little heat)

At the end of Thursday evening, more than 350,000 Montrealers still lacked electricity. Many spent part of the day looking for places to keep warm, recharge the batteries of electronic devices and have a bite to eat.

The streets of Outremont and Mont-Royal are plunged into darkness on Thursday evening: not a lamp post, not a traffic light. In the gleam of the headlights appear the silhouette of the residences and the carcasses of broken branches pushed back along the streets. Here and there, a Hydro-Quebec truck.

At the end of the equally dark Rockland Boulevard, a mirage appears: the illuminated signs of the Rockland Centre. Located in the heart of several areas hard hit by power outages – including Mont-Royal, Outremont and Parc-Extension – it was attacked by people looking for heat and food.

Everywhere else in the metropolis, cafes, restaurants and even metro stations have experienced this same influx, has been able to see The Press.

“It’s difficult, because it’s started to get cold, there’s no hot water, and it’s not easy for the baby,” says Basant Meikhail. This mother took refuge with her husband Tamer Tawfeek and their three children at the mall for a good part of Thursday. The youngest, Maritshia, is barely 7 weeks old.

In Villeray, they lost electricity at 9 p.m. Wednesday evening. Twenty-four hours later, no sign of a return.

Mr. Tawfeek tried to contact hotels to spend the night, but without success: everything was full. “We will all sleep together in the living room”, consoles M^me Meikhail.

Go or stay?

At their side, in the hubbub of the shopping center, Tania Portillo and Philippe Cadieux brought their two daughters to eat ice cream, while warming up.

“Last night, I was a little cold,” says Tamara, aged six and a half. “So the girls came to join us in bed and the family slept together,” explains M^me Portal.

The family has relatives in the Laurentians and wonders if she is leaving to join them that evening, or if she is staying there in the hope that the electricity will come back.

” I’ve never seen that ”

This shopping center was attacked by people looking for a hot drink in the morning, also testifies Issa Haddad. “There were endless lines, at every cafe, restaurant, Starbuck. At Tim Hortons, I would have had to wait at least an hour and a half for a coffee! “, he is surprised.

Resourceful, this resident of Outremont finally found the solution: he prepared a coffee soluble in cold water, at home. And he got himself a little stove that he can use inside. In the evening, we meet him installed next to an electrical outlet where he charges his cell phone while reading.

His only regret, in the circumstances, the lost food: “I have two full freezers, and I put a lot of work to [le remplir]. I have pesto and all sorts of other things,” he laments.

Shared electrical outlets

You only have to take a few steps in the mall to see dozens of people using the electrical outlets available to them.

Zain El Arab even brought a power strip to charge the phones of his extended family he lives with, including a one-month-old infant. He shares it with those who need it.

“It’s difficult, you can’t have coffee or heat food, especially with babies,” he says.

Michel Tardif, he prefers to be at the Rockland Center, because “in the house, there is nothing to do”.

A little further on, Corinne Ho, an American from Los Angeles, is tapping on her cell phone while charging. M^me Ho is visiting his mother, who lives in Ahuntsic-Cartierville. “It is sure that it is more pleasant [dans le centre commercial] and that it’s warmer,” she points out, pointing to the illuminated windows of the shops around. Is she disappointed with her visit to Quebec, under the circumstances? “Oh no, I love Montreal! she exclaims.