Quebecers who lost electricity Friday before 4 p.m. can still hope to find it for supper time, says Hydro-Quebec. The others, among the approximately 118,000 customers of the state-owned company still plunged into darkness on Sunday, will however have to wait until the beginning of the week.
“It is the ambition of the teams to ensure that those who lost power last Friday can find it for Christmas dinner,” said the president and CEO of Hydro -Quebec, Sophie Brochu, at a press briefing, Sunday, late morning.
Around 12 p.m., the Crown corporation was still reporting 2,314 outages across Quebec, which meant a dark Christmas morning for more than 118,000 customers. “We have a large number of breakdowns where there are 5 customers, 10 customers [touchés et] that’s what makes it longer,” explained Sophie Brochu, dressed in an orange work suit.
The hardest hit region remains the Capitale-Nationale with more than 37,000 Hydro-Québec subscribers still without power when they wake up.
The other regions most affected are Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean (more than 17,000 customers), Côte-Nord (more than 15,000 customers) and the Laurentians (more than 10,000 customers).
Added to this are Mauricie (more than 9,000 customers) and Bas-Saint-Laurent (more than 8,000) where the storm raged during the night.
PHOTO GRAHAM HUGHES, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Hydro-Quebec said on Twitter that 1,200 employees are on the ground Sunday to restore service to as many people as possible.
The Hydro-Québec teams nevertheless continued to make progress during the night, which enabled some 20,000 customers to regain power.
Since the start of the winter storm, no less than 550,000 Quebec Hydro-Quebec customers have been without power at one time or another, revealed Sophie Brochu.
The latter had warned on Saturday that it will take “a lot of patience and resilience”, adding that the company was doing everything in its power to work “as quickly as possible”.
Have a plan B
The state corporation also said that 1,200 employees are on the ground Sunday to restore service to as many people as possible. Other violent winds, which occurred in certain places in the night from Saturday to Sunday, also come to complicate the work of the teams of Hydro-Québec.
The provider cannot estimate the time to restore service to all customers, due to the complexity of the logistics behind this major operation.
Teams are also moved from one region to another to ensure that the most affected regions have the necessary number of teams on the ground for the scope of the work to be carried out.
Sophie Brochu insisted on Sunday on the importance for customers without electricity for more than 24 hours “to have a plan B”. “If you have resisted until now, then stayed at home, but you think you are going to have a problem, do not hesitate to call on the municipal services”, she hammered, also inviting the Quebecers to hear from loved ones living alone.
The use of combustion devices normally used outdoors such as barbecues, stoves or generators indoors should also be avoided given the risk of asphyxiation and carbon monoxide poisoning. -she insists.
Transport disruptions
Quebecers who plan to travel should also note that many disruptions are still in effect in the various modes of transport.
Environment Canada has notably published a blowing snow advisory for the majority of the sectors located between Montreal and Quebec, which means that “dangerous road conditions can be expected due to reduced visibility in certain places”.
Transports Québec also points out that users who travel between Québec and Saguenay by electric vehicle will not have access to charging stations for an indefinite period in the Laurentides wildlife reserve at l’Étape.
At Montreal-Trudeau airport, several flights were delayed, but many planes also managed to leave the tarmac.
VIA Rail Canada trains are also affected by weather conditions, and the railway company announced on its website that “significant delays” were to be expected in the Quebec City – Windsor corridor. Twenty trains were also canceled on Saturday.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
The arrivals and departures board at the Montreal station showed cancellations on Sunday morning.
Due to the derailment of a Canadian National train, VIA Rail has indicated on its website that it is forced “to cancel all trains between Toronto and Ottawa and Toronto and Montreal for December 25th. »
As for Orléans Express coaches, no cancellations were announced Sunday morning on the company’s website.
The Société des traversiers du Québec (STQ) reported in a press release released Saturday afternoon that its facilities at the Matane-Baie-Comeau-Godbout crossing had been damaged by the storm.
The service to Godbout has therefore been suspended, and all scheduled crossings to or from the municipality will be redirected to Baie-Comeau.
The STQ will also have to test its equipment in Baie-Comeau to check the impacts of the storm, but the lack of electricity has delayed these checks.
In Matane, the company found no damage to infrastructure, but said navigation conditions remained “difficult”.
The crossings for Matane – Baie-Comeau – Godbout scheduled for Monday, December 26 are maintained and the service resumes according to the posted schedule, indicated in the evening the STQ.
She assured that she will inform customers of any changes through her alert system.
With The Canadian Press
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