Weekend storm: Quebec says some parts of province won’t get power back until Saturday

MONTREAL — Quebec’s hydro utility says more than 80,000 customers are still without power following last weekend’s violent storm that left a trail of damage from Gatineau to Quebec City.

Hydro−Québec president Sophie Brochu and vice−president of operations and maintenance Régis Tellier told reporters the utility hopes to restore power to more than 50,000 people by the end of the day.

They say the majority of customers still in the dark should get their power back by the end of Thursday. 

But people in more remote areas of the province will have to wait until Saturday — one week since the storm levelled trees and power lines across the province and in Ontario.

The deadly storm killed at least nine people in Ontario and one person in Quebec, who died after her boat capsized on the Ottawa River.

Wind gusts up to 151 kilometres per hour caused serious damage to power lines and other infrastructure across both provinces. 

The hardest−hit areas in Quebec include the Laurentians, where almost 50,000 customers are still off the electricity grid, along with the Outaouais and Lanaudière regions. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on May 25, 2022.

−−−

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

The Canadian Press