Winter Storm | New Year’s Eve on the ice

Violent winds and the cocktail of precipitation on Friday caused “large-scale” blackouts across Quebec, numerous road trips, record gusts and many headaches at Montreal International Airport.

By 11:45 p.m., more than 370,000 homes were still without power. The regions most affected were the Capitale-Nationale, Montérégie, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Laurentides, Outaouais and Estrie.

Across the province, snow, freezing rain and high winds made driving difficult. In the morning, the Sûreté du Québec was already observing “a lot of road trips,” said spokesperson Stéphane Tremblay. One of them claimed the life of a 37-year-old man after an accident in row 40 in Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague, in Montérégie.

Throughout the day, significant amounts of snow fell on Quebec. At the end of the afternoon, Notre-Dame-des-Prairies in Lanaudière had already received 43 cm of snow, according to Environment Canada. Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts followed closely with 40 cm. In addition, strong winds have not spared the province, especially in Cap-Rouge, Saguenay, and Île d’Orléans, where gusts of 119 km/h were recorded.

Quebec and Saguenay heavily affected

With 89,000 customers without power, the Quebec region was the most affected by the blackouts. The gusts also swept through the national capital, where winds of 120 km / h were recorded at the Quebec airport, a record for the month of December, said MétéoMédia.

Roofs were torn off by the winds and carports blew away, so much so that Quebec City’s Public Security recommended that pedestrians limit their movements “in order to [se] protect objects that [pouvaient] be blown by strong winds.

The storm also caused the St. Lawrence River to overflow on Friday afternoon on rue Dalhousie, in Quebec, at the height of the ship AML Louis Jolliet.

One in three lanes was also closed in each direction on the Pierre-Laporte bridge in Quebec.

The winter storm shook the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region hard on Friday. In the afternoon, the Saguenay River overflowed, which forced the closure of a section of Saguenay Boulevard. Part of the roofs of the Center Mario-Tremblay, in Alma, and the arena of the University of Quebec in Chicoutimi (UQAC) have come off the buildings.

Shelters have also been set up to accommodate people who had to spend the night in the cold. The Laurentides wildlife reserve, between Quebec and Saguenay, was closed to traffic. We expected up to 70 cm in the region by this Saturday.

Waking up by candlelight

Although Quebecers risk having a New Year’s Eve without electricity, the majority of them will not have to spend December 25 in the dark. Hydro-Quebec aims to restore most customers without electricity before Sunday evening. However, some outages will continue until the beginning of the week.

“These are large-scale outages that cover all of Quebec. We are working as quickly as possible, but with great concern for the safety of our employees and the public,” said Éric Fillion, Executive Vice-President, Chief Operating Officer and Customer Experience Officer at Hydro-Québec, at a conference. press Friday afternoon.

Around 4 p.m. Friday, Hydro-Quebec recorded more than 1,800 outages across the province, most often caused by heavy snow and falling tree branches on power lines.

However, the weather is slowing down travel on the network and preventing workers from carrying out certain interventions. “We also have gusts of more than 100 km/h which have occurred in various places in Quebec and which complicate the situation. These winds will continue until the evening of December 24,” indicated Mr. Fillion.

Canceled and delayed flights

The storm caused many headaches at Montreal International Airport, where flight delays and cancellations numbered in the dozens. Many travelers met by The Press crossed their fingers when consulting the flight departure board.

The majority of flight cancellations were caused by weather conditions in the United States and other Canadian provinces.

Many departures to popular sun destinations for vacationers have been delayed, but not canceled.

For Saturday, “we expect normal operations,” said in an email sent around 4 p.m. Éric Forest, corporate communications advisor at Aéroports de Montréal (ADM). In the evening, however, delays were already planned for some flights on Saturday.

Among those who have borne the brunt of the series cancellations of flights to the Queen City are ocean rescue instructors Alexandra Désilets and Jonathan Trottier, who had to pass through Toronto on their way to Hawaii, the destination for the training they give .

“We knew, as organizers, that there would surely be a waiting period”, launched Alexandra to explain the presence on the floor of the terminal of the inflatable mattress that she had decided to lug around, and on which were seated some of the members of the group.

In view of the storm, several school service centers had announced Thursday the closure of all their establishments on Friday. Many ski resorts also closed on Friday, including Mont-Orford, Sutton, Mont Saint-Bruno, Morin-Heights, Stoneham and Le Relais.

With Gabriel Béland, Marie-Eve Morasse, The Pressand The Canadian Press and The Daily