Early Sunday evening, nearly 100,000 Hydro-Quebec customers were without power due to major storms that rocked several regions of Quebec.
Posted at 4:03 p.m.
Updated at 6:20 p.m.
A total of 98,731 homes were without power across Quebec as of 6 p.m. Sunday, according to Hydro-Quebec. A balance sheet that grows heavier every minute. As of 3:30 p.m., just over 22,000 people were without power.
“There, we are at the stage of patrolling the network to see where the breaks are, indicates Jonathan Côté, spokesperson for Hydro-Québec. There are already teams deployed. »
Tree branches, even complete trees fallen on the electrical wires, seem to be the major cause of power outages, says Mr. Côté.
Lanaudière is the hardest hit region with 38,041 customers out of 264,096 without electricity. Next come Montreal (25,771 customers out of 1,079,904), the Laurentians (20,357 customers out of 363,308), and Laval (10,273 customers out of 197,142).
Severe thunderstorms were expected in fifteen regions of Quebec on Sunday afternoon, according to Environment Canada. Alerts were in effect intermittently in several regions in the south of the province, including Montreal, Laval, the Laurentians, Lanaudière, Quebec, Mauricie and parts of Montérégie and Centre-du-Québec.
These thunderstorms can “produce very strong gusts, from hail the size of a nickel to a ping-pong ball and heavy rain,” says Environment Canada on its website.
It is recommended to take shelter in the event of a “threatening weather phenomenon”.