Hydro-Québec Warns Some Customers Might Be In The Dark For Days
Over 1,000,000 customers provincewide had no power Thursday morning.
A fallen tree branch blocks a Montreal street after a freezing rain storm on April 5, 2023.
Hydro-Québec is scrambling to restore power to over 1 million customers provincewide after Wednesday's freezing rain storm felled trees and brought down power lines. In Montreal alone, there were 483,875 customers without electricity as of 7 a.m. Thursday.
Widespread Hydro-Québec outages have also struck the Montérégie (198,386 customers), Outaouais (127,374), Laurentides (108,263), Laval (102,471), and Lanaudière (63,826) regions.
The company said Thursday morning it had deployed 1,000 employees to the field to restore power lines but that given the immense amount of work to be done, "it is difficult for us to provide precise recovery times." Some customers, it added, might not see electricity return for several days.
\u201cPlus de 1 million de clients sont en #panne ce matin \u00e0 la suite de l\u2019\u00e9pisode de pluie vergla\u00e7ante de mercredi. Les travaux se sont poursuivis au courant de la nuit et aujourd'hui, nous pouvons compter sur 1000 employ\u00e9s terrain. Malgr\u00e9 une importante force de frappe, comme\u2026\u201d— Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec (@Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec) 1680779346
"We are confident that we will be able to restore power to some of the affected customers [Thursday]," the company wrote on social media. "Unfortunately, it is already expected that some customers will still be without power on Friday and this weekend. We will maintain a presence on the ground as long as there are still customers without power."
Hydro-Québec also warned further outages could be possible as inclement weather continues.
The utility promised further updates on the situation in a press conference scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday.
At least the weather is set to get cheerier. Environment Canada's Thursday forecast for Montreal calls for "periods of drizzle" until 9 a.m. followed by a "mix of sun and cloud" through the late afternoon. The federal weather agency also predicts the temperature will shoot up, peaking at 11 C at 2 p.m.
Quebec's Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches regions were still under a freezing rain warning Thursday morning.