Thousands remain without power five days after Quebec ice storm

“It feels ridiculous at this point," says Veronik Rouleau, a Pierrefonds resident who on Monday was on day five of no power after the April 5 ice storm. Her family says they feel left behind by Quebec's utility. Alyssia Rubertucci reports.

By Alyssia Rubertucci

Posted April 10, 2023 4:20 pm.

Last Updated April 10, 2023 7:02 pm.

Five days after the devastating ice storm in Quebec that knocked out power for over 1.1 million places at the peak, thousands remained in the dark Monday.

Hydro-Québec says they’re working round the clock and hope to have most back on the grid by tonight, but adding some may have to wait until Tuesday.

The Rouleau family lives in Pierrefonds on Montreal’s West Island. They have been staying afloat with the help of a generator.

“It’s the cold. The last few days that was really hard. Lack of light. And I think just mentally, it’s just exhausting,” explained Véronik Rouleau, Pierrefonds resident.

Véronik Rouleau, Pierrefonds resident without power five days after Quebec’s freezing rain storm. (Photo Credit: Alyssia Rubertucci, CityNews)

“We’re able to keep some stuff, at least our food, things like that. We’re not losing any of that. The hardest is the heat and that time of the year, it’s not even that cold. So I can only imagine if it was colder five days, we wouldn’t have been able to make it even with a generator.”

As of 7 p.m. Monday, just over 19,700 Hydro customers still didn’t have electricity. Hydro-Québec said 1,600 workers were out in the field fixing the damage from the nearly 30 millimeters of ice.

“We haven’t seen no truck of Hydro-Québec over here in the last since the beginning. So, we know around there are some trucks, but, here we’re being left out,” said Marc Rouleau.

“We didn’t want to leave the house. And because of my wife’s cancer and stuff like that, we didn’t want to take the risk either.”

Marc Rouleau, Pierrefonds resident without power five days after Quebec’s freezing rain storm. (Photo Credit: Alyssia Rubertucci, CityNews)

He added, “We’re a family of six over here. So we have all of our fridges and coolers and TVs that are hooked up. So we’re lucky for that.”

But even with a generator, it’s not perfect for the Rouleau family.

“We’re not really able to cook any hot meals, we can’t have all of our appliances plugged in because it would be too much for the generator,” explained Véronik.

Generator being used by the Rouleau family as they remain without power five days after Quebec’s freezing rain storm. (Photo Credit: Alyssia Rubertucci, CityNews)

Montreal officials are warning people not to use fuel-burning appliances inside after 180 cases of carbon monoxide poisoning were reported since the storm. A 75-year-old man in Saint-Joseph-Du-Lac, north of Montreal, died after running a generator in his garage last week.

But as the days pass, the frustration continues to grow.

“It feels ridiculous at this point, with the weather being nice. Almost everyone has their power back except us here.”