Roads strewn with trees, sagging electric poles, gutted roofs of houses: violent gusts swept over southern Quebec on Saturday evening, leaving significant damage in their wake.
Posted at 11:14 a.m.
Updated at 7:02 p.m.
In the Laurentians, the winds reached a speed of 90 km/h. “Around my house, it’s full of fallen trees,” says a resident of Saint-Adèle.
By late evening, Environment Canada’s severe thunderstorm warning was lifted in most areas. It stretched from Haute-Gatineau to the Laurentides wildlife reserve, and included Greater Montreal.
Now is the time to take stock of the damage.
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PHOTO FROM TWITTER @CASHONAIR
According to Hydro-Quebec, 115,108 homes were without electricity at 6:16 p.m. in the Outaouais region.
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PHOTO FROM TWITTER @GEOFFMANCH
Several trees were uprooted or snapped near Ottawa
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PHOTO FROM TWITTER @KATHERINEDINES
Electric wires are damaged in the Outaouais.
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PHOTO FROM TWITTER @ISMOSIKAT
A tree has been completely uprooted due to strong winds in Ottawa.
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PHOTO FROM TWITTER @ISMOSIKAT
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According to Hydro-Québec, 120,957 homes are still without electricity in the Outaouais region and 182,013 in the Laurentians. The state-owned company attributes these outages to “severe thunderstorms”. Major outages are also reported in Mauricie, Lanaudière and Montérégie. In all, 1,361 outages are currently occurring across the province, affecting 553,605 customers.
Due to the magnitude of the event, Hydro-Québec cannot give a time frame for restoring service. “The situation can change quickly on the ground and the number of places to intervene is enormous,” she said in a tweet.
The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) has not reported any serious injuries for the moment in the most affected territories.
On the other hand, she receives a large number of calls related to the difficult weather conditions, and reminds us that 911 should only be dialed in the event of an emergency. In the field, the number of patrol officers has been increased to provide assistance to the population.
“There were lightning, thunder. It was really a big storm,” says Florence Jannard. On his small street in Chertsey, several trees were uprooted by the gusts. Fortunately, the houses were spared. As soon as the storm passed, the neighborhood got down to cleaning up. “There are a lot of branches in the street,” she said.
A thunderstorm from Ontario
The storm system is coming in from Ontario, where winds of over 120 km/h were recorded near the border earlier Saturday, and is traveling east.
In the neighboring province, the storm killed at least two people and knocked out tens of thousands of homes of power.
Peel Regional Police say a Brampton woman died after being struck by a tree during the storm. Hours later, the Ontario Provincial Police announced that one person had died and two others were injured after a tree fell on a trailer near Lake Pinehurst in Waterloo Region.
At Kitchener airport, gusts of 132 km/h were recorded.
In Quebec, citizens would have seen a tornado in the corner of Gatineau, in Outaouais, but Environment Canada does not confirm anything for the moment. “It’s possible, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a tornado,” says Maxime Perron, Environment Canada meteorologist.
A tornado watch will remain in effect for the remainder of the evening in central Ontario.
The rivers are overflowing
Precipitation is expected Sunday in almost the entire province, from Gatineau to Sept-Îles, via Chibougamau and Greater Montreal.
Bad news for residents of Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, where the Ashuapmushuan and Mistassini rivers have reached record levels and the level of Lac Saint-Jean itself is very high. The rain “should maintain these levels until about Monday,” according to Mr. Perron.
In La Tuque, flooding forces the closure of several roads. Residents of Parent are currently isolated, and an emergency airlift has been put in place to ensure the supply of essential goods and urgent medical transport to La Tuque.
Teams from the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks are also on site to attempt an operation to raise the road surface of a section of forest road 25 between Wemotaci and Parent.
“At the moment, we have no idea how long this operation will take and if it will work,” said the City of La Tuque in a press release.
If the mercury reached 30 ° C in Montreal on Saturday, there is no other heat wave in sight in the immediate future and temperatures should approach seasonal norms for the next few days.
The return of good weather will be generalized on Monday for National Patriots’ Day. Clear skies are expected and temperatures between 14°C and 20°C depending on the region.
With The Canadian Press