Montrealers struggle to find power following freezing rain storm
Posted April 5, 2023 10:19 pm.
Last Updated April 5, 2023 11:44 pm.
Montreal and many other parts of Quebec experienced freezing rain since Wednesday morning, causing power outages for more than 1 million Hydro-Quebec customers as of 11:00 p.m. Wednesday.
Montrealers are looking for places with power, but instead, they are facing even more dangers outside with some streetlights not working.
“We were at work. And honestly, just the lights completely turned off and everything just stopped working,” Marie Brazin, Montrealer.
“We’re supposed to consider these as, like, stop signs instead. But a lot of people are just speeding through, not really looking at where they’re going.”
Some businesses, like the restaurant Juliette & Chocolat in Monkland, were still open in the afternoon despite the outage.
“We’ve already cut a few of our staff. We’ve had reservations today, but unfortunately, we’ve lost quite a lot of clients today, and guests unfortunately. And for now I’m going to stay here and wait to see if we can continue. If not, we’re just going to have to close for the day,” said Tatiana Michele, assistant manager of Juliette & Chocolat.
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One customer, however, kept her reservation to see if friends would still make it to her birthday party.
“First thing this morning, I started getting the emails saying, ‘I don’t think I’m coming in’. So yeah, I had three cancelations already. People who live in the West Island, you know, they just didn’t want to take a chance. And I quite understand,” said Kathleen Fee.
“I always imagine what would be the worst thing, maybe being in the dentist’s chair with an open thing when the power goes out. There’s a lot worse places you can be when there’s a power outage than in a lovely restaurant.”
The ice-glazed trees are a beautiful sight to see, but not like this, when they are blocking the lanes.
Environment Canada warned risk of thunderstorm in Montreal later in the evening. Hydro-Quebec sent crews to work on restoring the power back, but cannot provide a time estimate due to high number of power outages.
Montrealers are currently advised to stay off roads and to watch their step as sidewalks and streets are slippery and hazardous.
