Severe thunderstorms producing hail and destructive gusts hit southern Quebec and eastern Ontario on Thursday, according to Environment Canada. A severe thunderstorm warning and a tornado watch have been issued.
At 6:15 p.m., Environment Canada meteorologists were monitoring “an area of severe thunderstorms that can produce very strong gusts, from hail the size of a nickel to a ping-pong ball and rain forte” in the Montreal area.
The federal agency indicated that “torrential rains will likely cause flash flooding and water accumulation on the roads” and recalled that “lightning kills and injures Canadians every year”.
The Ministère des Transports had to close Highway 15 at the exit to Highway 40 East due to flooding.
Videos posted by motorists on social media show flooded Montreal highways, with some vehicles having water up to the top of their wheels.
The Québec En Alerte system recommends that citizens take shelter if a threatening weather phenomenon is approaching.
“A lot of lightning is likely and there is always a risk of a tornado with a thunderstorm,” said Québec En Alerte.
A severe thunderstorm alert has also been issued for the Beauce, Estrie, Lanaudière and Montérégie regions.
“Additional attention and precautions should be exercised near and around the following localities: Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Lacolle, Saint-Rémi, Huntingdon and Hemmingford”, is it indicated on the Alertable website, while these regions near the US border received an alert at 5:57 p.m.
A tornado watch has also been launched in the Lanaudière and Laurentides regions.
Around 6:45 p.m., more than 33,000 Hydro-Québec customers were without power, mainly in Montérégie, the Laurentians and Montreal.
In Montreal, metro service was interrupted in several places due to water infiltration, the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) said on Twitter.
Montreal-Trudeau International Airport, for its part, specified that “for security reasons, the lightning alert in force could disrupt flight schedules, ground operations and baggage delivery”.
The thunderstorms also forced the Francos de Montréal organization to cancel the 7 p.m. shows on the Bell stage and the Sirius XM stage.