Another thunderstorm watch for Quebec Sunday as thousands remain without power

More than half a million households in Quebec lost power at the height of severe thunderstorms Saturday evening that swept across the province and into Ontario, where at least eight people died.

Thousands remained without power as of Sunday morning, with Hydro Quebec sending more than 800 workers to restore power overnight.

The severe thunderstorms moved across Quebec and affected mainly the Laurentians, Outaouais and Lanaudière regions.

Roughly 550,000 Hydro Quebec customers lost power at the height of the storm, the province’s public utility reported.

The storm knocked down trees, affecting power lines and causing outages.

“We know that the situation can be difficult and we want to assure you that we are doing everything possible to restore power as quickly as possible,” Hydro Quebec said.

“During emergencies, service recovery times and updates may vary depending on the complexity of the work that is required to restore the power safely.”

The intense weather yesterday caused important damages to trees, which led to #outages in different regions. More than 361 teams are on the ground to restore service as soon as possible. Learn more about power restoration priorities: pic.twitter.com/2gdqDFtqPT

— Hydro-Québec (@hydro_customer) May 22, 2022

The severe storm was fatal in Ontario. A woman died when her boat capsized on the Ottawa River, and falling trees killed at least another three people.

Environment Canada issued another “severe thunderstorm watch” for parts of Quebec on Sunday morning.

The weather agency says strong wind gusts, large hail and heavy rain are expected Sunday afternoon into the evening.

“Large hail can damage property and cause injury,” reads the Environment Canada thunderstorm watch. “Strong wind gusts can toss loose objects, damage weak buildings, break branches off trees and overturn large vehicles. Remember, severe thunderstorms can produce tornadoes.”