Winter Storm | Nearly 91,000 customers still without electricity

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 92,000 customers of the state-owned company still plunged into darkness on Sunday, will however have to wait until the start 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 6:15 p.m., the Crown corporation was still reporting 2,191 outages across Quebec, which meant a Christmas in the dark for nearly 92,000 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 region hardest hit remains the Capitale-Nationale with more than 27,000 Hydro-Québec subscribers still without electricity.

The other regions most affected are Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean (more than 15,000 customers), Côte-Nord (more than 13,000 customers) and the Laurentians (nearly 7,000 customers).

Added to this are Mauricie (nearly 7,000 customers) and Bas-Saint-Laurent (nearly 6,000) where the storm raged during the night.

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 issued storm warnings for parts of Quebec on Sunday afternoon.

A storm surge warning issued jointly by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (Science) and the Meteorological Service of Canada Quebec Region is currently in effect for the Sept-Îles-Port-Cartier area, which poses a risk of surf of waves and coastal overflow.

Higher than normal water levels and large waves are expected near the coast on Sunday afternoon, which could possibly cause minor wave breaking along the coast, as well as coastal flooding and erosion. .

Environment Canada has also issued a blowing snow advisory for most areas between Montreal and Quebec, which means that “hazardous road conditions can be expected due to reduced visibility in some areas.”

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.

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 on the company’s website on Sunday.

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