MONTREAL – A mix of freezing rain, snow and strong winds have resulted in numerous power outages in southern Quebec and eastern Ontario.
Hydro-Quebec was reporting more than 245,000 customers were without electricity as of 4 a.m. Thursday while Hydro-One was showing almost 16,000 outages on its website.
Most blackouts were in southwest Quebec, including almost 73,000 in the Laurentian region north of Montreal; more than 67,000 northwest of the city; about 22,000 in communities south of Montreal and more than 27,000 in the city itself.
A Hydro-Quebec spokesman said teams of repair crews were working to restore electricity, but cautioned that some customers may be without power until Thursday morning, depending on weather conditions.
The spokesman said it was difficult to say when all power would be restored because of continuing strong winds late Wednesday and ice still falling on branches and wires in several regions.
Hydro-One, which services mainly rural Ontario, was reporting almost 16,000 customers without power – down from about 26,000 earlier Thursday – from central Ontario to the Quebec border. The utility said restoration times range from noon on Thursday to about 10 p.m.
