Hydro-Québec aims to restore all power today, down since ice storm

Hydro-Québec is warning that some of its remaining repairs to lines damaged by last week’s ice storm may not be completed until Tuesday, but it’s aiming to restore all power today.

Roughly 19,700 customers remain without power across Quebec as of 7 p.m. Monday. About 13,800 in Montreal, and the rest in the Outaouais (2,600), Montérégie (1,800), and Laval (1,300).

Hydro-Québec says power has been restored to over 95 per cent of the more than 1.1 million customers that were impacted after the weight of freezing rain Wednesday split tree trunks and sent branches crashing onto power lines. Hydro adding in a press release that, “today, nearly 1,600 workers are working hard to restore service to customers who are still without electricity.”

The utility says the “quasi totality” of customers should get power back by the end of the day, but it warns there could still be a few more complex cases that could take longer.

In total, nearly 1,125,000 clients have been affected by the April 5 ice storm in the province, that brought up to 30 mm of ice in some regions, causing trees or large branches to fall on Hydro’s electricity distribution grid.

To follow the situation, consult the Power outages status by region.

“Please note that the service restoration times shown on the map are approximate and may vary due to the number of outages and the kind of damage. Customers should plan for alternative arrangements even if specific service restoration times appear.”

“If the ice storm damaged the service entrance mast of a residence, note that the repair work must be carried out by a certified master electrician. This work could be completed before Hydro-Québec teams visit, which would accelerate power restoration.”

Officials are also warning people not to use fuel-burning appliances inside after a number of reports of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Montreal public health said Sunday that 180 cases of carbon monoxide poisoning had been reported at emergency rooms in the city since the storm, including more than 50 reported since Saturday.

Regis Tellier, the utility’s vice-president of operations and maintenance, told reporters Sunday morning that power has been restored to over 90 per cent of the more than one million customers who lost electricity – including 180,000 who saw the lights come back on Saturday.

“The goal is to reconnect 95 per cent today, by the end of the day, and then on Monday, almost all the remaining customers,” Tellier said.

But he said some complex cases won’t be resolved until Tuesday.

Tellier said 1,500 hydro workers are on the ground, with about 40 per cent in the hardest-hit areas in and around Montreal.

But most of the remaining outages are small and affect only a handful of customers, he said, noting hydro workers are reconnecting fewer customers even though they’re working at the same pace.

“It’s the same effort, but it’s few customers, sometimes it’s five, 10 customers,” he said.

Tellier said he witnessed just such an example on Saturday when he went to see some crews at work. At one specific outage in Baie-D’Urfe, Que., an on-island suburb of Montreal, two crews with two cranes were needed to remove branches on a line and reconnect two homes.

He said crews often have to secure branches to prevent them from falling on people as they work.

Tellier said that to his knowledge, all seniors residences and long-term care homes that lost power have now been reconnected.

The Red Cross said its eight emergency shelters in Montreal will remain open Sunday night for those who are still without power.

The organization said 102 people stayed in the shelters on Saturday night.

???? VERGLAS 9 AVRIL | Encore aujourd’hui, des milliers de ménages sont sans électricité. En cette journée de Pâques, j’espère que vous pourrez tout de même profiter de l’occasion pour célébrer avec vos proches.

Infos mises à jour ⤵️

???? Ces lieux sont chauffés et sont dotés… pic.twitter.com/msIHcs2jku

— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) April 9, 2023

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante said in a post on Twitter that the shelters will stay open as long as necessary.

The City of Montreal has also opened some libraries and cultural centres for people who need to recharge electronic devices or warm up.

Plante is also warning people to be careful in city parks, some of which are partially closed.

“Avoid walking under trees and on uncleared paths,” Plante wrote. “We still need several days to collect, transport and recover more than tens of thousands of trees and fallen branches.”

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Officials are also warning people not to use fuel-burning appliances inside after a number of reports of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Urgences-sante, the ambulance service for Montreal and Laval, Que., said it has received 153 calls related to carbon monoxide poisoning.

Spokeswoman Julie Gaulin said the service has transported 116 people to hospital, but there have been no deaths in either city.

The province has announced grocery stores in particularly affected regions can remain open on Easter Sunday – a statutory holiday – to help residents running low on food after the blackout. Those regions include Montreal, Monteregie, Laval, Outaouais, Laurentides and Lanaudiere.

The storm and its aftermath have been linked to three deaths, including that of a 75-year-old Quebec man who died from carbon monoxide poisoning after running a generator in his garage. Two other men – one in Ontario and one in Quebec – were killed after being struck by branches.