MONTREAL: Power outages were still lingering in Montreal and other parts of Quebec after a freezing rain storm coated power lines, roads and tree branches, disrupting transit and daily life across the region. Around 6 a.m. on Thursday, 33,972 Hydro-Québec customers were without electricity in Montreal, while about 198,000 homes were affected across the province. The number fell steadily through the day, but 8,927 addresses across Quebec were still without power shortly after midnight Friday.
Environment and Climate Change Canada had warned before the storm that the Montreal area could receive 20 to 30 millimetres of freezing rain over roughly 24 hours, with a risk of widespread and prolonged disruption. The system moved into southern Quebec on Wednesday and left streets, sidewalks and overhead infrastructure coated in ice. A federal meteorologist said Montreal recorded about 21 millimetres of precipitation overnight, while colder conditions after the storm helped keep surfaces slippery into the end of the week.
The outage count in Montreal dropped to 24,250 by 10:15 a.m. Thursday and then to 12,459 about an hour later, before easing to roughly 10,000 by early afternoon and about 2,000 by late afternoon. Provincewide, outages fell to about 52,800 by 5 p.m., to just over 30,000 by 7 p.m., and to above 15,700 shortly after 8:30 p.m. Quebec officials said roughly 2,000 Hydro-Québec employees were involved in restoration work as freezing rain and wind damaged parts of the distribution network.
Transport disruptions ease
The storm also disrupted transportation across the Montreal area during the Thursday morning commute. REM service between Brossard and Central Station was interrupted after what the operator described as an exceptional accumulation of freezing rain on part of the overhead power system, though normal service resumed later in the morning. Airport operations in Montreal had also been hit earlier in the storm, but by Thursday the situation at the city’s airport had largely returned to normal, while school reopening decisions continued to vary by district.
Montreal municipal authorities said de-icing streets and sidewalks remained the immediate priority, with special attention given to fire stations, police stations, emergency communications centres, hospitals, bridges and tunnels. The city urged residents to postpone trips if possible, watch for falling branches and call 311 for dangerous situations requiring a public works response. In some boroughs, municipal facilities were made available for people needing a place to warm up or recharge electronic devices during power cuts.
Cleanup continues as new weather arrives
Forecasts issued Friday showed the city moving from freezing rain into another stretch of unsettled March weather, adding pressure to cleanup and restoration efforts. Environment Canada said snow would begin Friday night, with about five centimetres possible before additional snowfall of two to four centimetres on Saturday and gusty winds through midday. Cloudy conditions were expected to continue Sunday before a sharp warm-up on Monday, when showers and a high near 13 degrees Celsius were forecast for Montreal.
The latest numbers showed the storm had become a major but fast-moving test for utilities and local services rather than a prolonged collapse of the grid in Montreal itself. More than 200,000 customers across Quebec lost power at the height of the event, but restoration accelerated as crews worked through Thursday and into Friday, even as icy sidewalks, weakened branches and fresh snowfall kept conditions hazardous in parts of the city. – By Content Syndication Services.