Achi news desk-
Thousands of households were without power Friday evening after heavy snowfall in Quebec the day before.
As of 4:45 p.m., Hydro-Québec says the worst affected areas are Lorraine, Ottawa and Monterrey. Only a few hundred customers were without power in Montreal shortly after 7 p.m
“In some places, power lines are down due to strong gusts of wind or the weight of broken tree branches,” notes Hydro-Québec. “We are mobilizing all available teams to work on restoring service as quickly as possible.”
Environment and Climate Change Canada says more than 20 cm of snow was recorded near Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, as well as more than 30 cm in downtown Montreal.
“For public safety, it is essential that people stay away from power lines,” the Crown Corporation emphasizes. “If you see power lines on the ground, please stay away from the area and call 911 to secure the area.”
At the peak of the outages, according to Hydro-Quebec 600,000 customers were affected.
The utility says it has about 1,400 people on the ground working to restore power.
The snow is expected to start melting over the next few days, as the forecast calls for warmer weather by the end of the week.
