(Quebec) The Christmas break will arrive earlier than expected for many students in the Capitale-Nationale region, while schools have decided to close Friday due to the storm that is looming.
The Première-Seigneuries school service center, which has nearly 30,000 students, will close its establishments on Friday given “the exceptional situation”. The Portneuf school service center made the same decision. The Découvertes school service center must communicate its choice on Friday morning.
In the greater Montreal area, no school service center has announced school closures at this time. But some school administrators are asking students to empty their lockers this evening in anticipation of the holiday break, in case classes are canceled on Friday. This is notably the case of the Saint-François-Solano primary school, in the Rosemont district.
“The decision to close the schools is taken by the school service center, in collaboration with the other service centers in the region, the Société de transport de Montréal and the school carriers,” explains Alain Perron, spokesperson for the center. Montreal school services. “We try to notify people as soon as possible. It has already happened that closures have been announced the day before. »
The City of Quebec is on the alert. Mayor Bruno Marchand wanted to reassure citizens on Thursday. “The City is ready. The crisis unit is activated and ready to take care of the citizens of Quebec,” noted the mayor of Quebec.
In particular, the City has tripled its urban forestry guard team, anticipating several broken branches. The weather forecast predicts gusts of 80 km / h on Friday evening in the capital. The authorities are also worried about the succession of snow then rain, followed by a cooling. This cocktail could transform the pavements into a skating rink.
“The worst scenario would be 25-30 mm of snow then 20-25 mm of rain and after a significant cooling,” notes Éric Grondin, director of the snow removal management division at the City of Quebec.
Tuck in your mirrors, screw up your tempos
The mayor calls on citizens to cooperate, in particular by parking their cars in their private parking lots or in those provided by the city during snow removal operations.
The City is also asking motorists to lower their mirrors to allow machinery to circulate. She also suggests “hanging up temporary shelters”, like Tempo shelters.
“We need citizens. These are not usual conditions due to the holiday, weekend. We want people to be able to move around, to meet. It will be Christmas Eve,” noted Mayor Marchand.
The City also asks citizens to arm themselves with candles, batteries and woolen blankets in the event of power outages.
With Isabelle Ducas, The Pressto Montreal