Hydro-Québec is staying on course with its goal of restoring power to nearly 165,000 customers without power Friday afternoon, but those plunged into darkness since 4 p.m. Friday due to strong winds that hit the province during the night may have to wait longer to regain power.
Thousands of Quebecers risk spending Christmas without electricity.
“We are like in a game of snake and ladder,” summarized the president and CEO of Hydro-Québec, Sophie Brochu, at a press conference on Saturday. “There are 200,000 people that we have managed to connect [depuis hier] and there are 200,000 breakdowns that have been added”.
From Hydro-Québec’s Coordination Center in Montreal, Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer Éric Filion reported on a large number of outages affecting small numbers of customers, a status report which complicates the work of the Hydro-Québec teams in the field.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Hydro-Québec executive vice-president Éric Fillion (right) and operations and maintenance vice-president Régis Tellier gave a press conference on Saturday at the Montreal Coordination Center.
“What is difficult is that we have a lot of small breakdowns that affect few customers. We have 25% of the 250,000 breakdowns which affect less than 5 customers and 50% of the breakdowns which affect less than 20 customers”, he explained.
Saturday, around 7:45 p.m., Hydro-Québec reported more than 165,000 homes, businesses and other customers still without power since the day before. No region of Quebec was spared by these power outages.
The region hardest hit remained the Capitale-Nationale with more than 43,000 subscribers without electricity when they woke up on Saturday.
The other regions most affected are Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean (nearly 24,000 customers), Montérégie (more than 15,000 customers), Laurentides (more than 15,000 customers) and Mauricie (more than 15,000 clients).
Added to this are the North Shore (more than 20,000 customers) and Bas-Saint-Laurent (nearly 13,000 customers) where the storm raged during the night.
No power until Monday or Tuesday
At a press conference late Saturday morning, the executive vice-president of Hydro-Québec Éric Filion indicated that the objective was to reconnect the majority of subscribers for Sunday evening, Christmas Eve.
He acknowledged, however, that some customers in less populated forested areas will not have power until Monday or Tuesday. Same thing for those who lost power after 4 p.m. Friday evening, Hydro-Quebec still being in the process of taking stock.
Some 1,200 Hydro-Québec workers are mobilized on the ground on Saturday, including linemen and customer service teams.
“I know it’s not the Christmas that many were hoping for,” declared the Prime Minister, François Legault, on Twitter, inviting Quebecers to take “news from your loved ones if they live alone”. “Be careful on the roads too, the conditions are not ideal,” he also said.
Help centers have been opened in several municipalities to welcome people without electricity if necessary, he also said.
After the rain, ice and wind
Quebecers who intend to brave difficult weather conditions should, however, carefully consult the state of the road network.
Almost all areas north of the St. Lawrence River are under a winter storm warning from Environment Canada, for heavy snow, high winds and freezing rain.
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PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Snow removal operation in a Montreal street, Saturday morning
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PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
A person leans on their cane to walk on a snowy Montreal sidewalk.
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PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
De-icing the windows was necessary before hitting the road.
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PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
This STM employee was in the Christmas spirit on Saturday morning.
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PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
A woman walks on the Réseau express vélo on rue Saint-Denis in Montreal on Saturday morning
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PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
The owner of this vehicle made sure that his windshield wipers did not stick to the windshield.
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In the Laurentians, precipitation will continue on Saturday for a total of 30 to 60 centimeters of snow, while total accumulations could approach 70 centimeters in places, especially on high ground.
In the Capitale-Nationale region, dangerous winter conditions are expected with strong southwesterly winds gusting to nearly 70 km/h.
Flights, coaches and trains disrupted
At Montreal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL), many trips were disrupted on Saturday, with around 90 delayed departures and arrivals and more than 30 canceled flights, according to the Aéroports de Montréal website.
In Quebec, Jean-Lesage Airport (YQB) indicated on its website that more than twenty departures and arrivals were delayed, and that twenty flights had simply been canceled.
On the road, uncertain conditions forced the cancellation of several coach routes, including intercity carrier Orléans Express. The company announced on its website that five trips between Montreal and Gatineau had been canceled Saturday between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
VIA Rail Canada trains were also disrupted 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 canceled on Saturday morning.
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 until further notice, 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 verify the impacts of the storm, but the absence of electricity currently prevents these verifications.
In Matane, the company found no damage to infrastructure, but said navigation conditions remained “difficult”.
The STQ assured that it will inform customers of any change through its alert system.
The Canadian Press