Hydro-Quebec has warned that some of its remaining repairs to lines damaged by last week’s deadly ice storm may not be completed until Tuesday.
About 40,000 customers in Quebec were still without power as of 4 a.m. Monday, mostly in the Montreal, Outaouais, Monteregie and Laval areas.
Regis Tellier, the utility’s vice president of operations and maintenance, told reporters Sunday morning that more than 90 percent of the more than 1 million customers without power had been restored, including 180,000 customers who had power restored Saturday.
Most of Quebec’s remaining outages affect only a few customers, Tellier said, noting that utility workers are reconnecting fewer customers even though they are working at the same rate.
Officials also warned people against using fuel-burning appliances indoors following multiple reports of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Montreal Public Health said Sunday that 180 cases of carbon monoxide poisoning have been reported in the city’s emergency rooms since Wednesday, including more than 50 reported since Saturday.
As his residents face the possibility of a fifth day of power outages, the mayor of a particularly hard-hit Montreal suburb said now is the time for Hydro-Québec to start taking steps to prevent similar outages in the future.
Beaconsfield Mayor Georges Bourelle said he was among 60 percent of the city’s 20,000 residents who were still without power as of Saturday.
“We can expect this to not be an isolated incident, it will continue to happen in the future, maybe even more often than in the past,” he said in an interview on Sunday.
Beaconsfield’s power lines are above ground, Bourelle said, adding that the storm hasn’t caused as many outages in areas where that infrastructure is buried.
“The weak link is the distribution system, which is fragile and definitely subject to a lot of extreme weather,” Bourelle said. “I think buried wires might be the ideal solution to prevent blackouts.”
Bourelle said he knew such a move would be an expensive proposition, but inaction would have economic costs: Grocery stores lost thousands of dollars to spoiled food, while grid repairs cost Hydro-Québec itself.
“People are angry, they’re frustrated, the fuse is being shortened very quickly, especially because it’s Easter, so imagine that because they can’t cook, there won’t be house parties and things like that,” he said.
Most of Quebec’s remaining outages affect only a few customers, Tellier said, noting that utility workers are reconnecting fewer customers even though they are working at the same rate.
“It’s the same effort but with very few clients, sometimes five or 10 clients,” he said.
Tyrell said he witnessed one such instance when he went to see some of the staff on Saturday. During one particular outage in Baie-D’Urfé, Quebec (an inner-island suburb of Montreal), two crews and two cranes were required to remove a branch on the line and reconnect two homes.
Crews often have to secure branches to keep them from falling on people while they work, he said.
To the best of his knowledge, all nursing homes and long-term care homes that lost power have now been powered back on, Tellier said.
The Red Cross said 102 people were in shelters Saturday night. The city of Montreal has also opened a number of libraries and cultural centers for people who need to charge their electronic devices or keep them warm.
Plant also warned people to be careful in city parks, some of which have been partially closed.
“Avoid walking under trees and uncleared paths,” Plant writes. “We still need days to collect, transport and restore tens of thousands of trees and fallen branches.”
Officials also warned people against using fuel-burning appliances indoors following multiple reports of carbon monoxide poisoning.
The storm and its aftermath have been linked to three deaths, including a 75-year-old Quebec man who died of carbon monoxide poisoning after running a generator in his garage. Two other men — one in Ontario and one in Quebec — died after being struck by tree branches.
—Jacob Celeblin, Canadian Press
Quebec severe weather