Ice Storm outages move into fifth day across metro Montreal

Hydro-Quebec employees and contractors, along with lineman from New Brunswick, have been working 24 hours a day since the Wednesday ice storm, cleaning debris and restoring power to more than 1.2 million customers. (Valley Weather)

I apologize for the lack of updates during this major ice storm, but I have had no power here on Ile Perrot since Wednesday at 12:57pm...SB

Fourteen hours of freezing rain have left us with millions of dollars in damages and two fatalities across southwestern Quebec. Power remains out to just over 151,000 Hydro-Quebec customers in the region. The utility has over 1500 workers on the job around the clock and plans to have at least 95 percent of clients back online by Sunday evening. The hardest hit area remains the West Island of Montreal where large sections remain in the dark since the storm last Wednesday.

While Hydro-Quebec has hundreds of employees on the job, the work has been slow, with thousands of individual breaks to repair, and debris to clear away. (Hydro-Quebec Photo)

Three fatalities have been reported so far, one in Les Cedres west of Montreal from a falling tree, and a second in Saint-Joseph-Du-Lac from carbon monoxide poisoning. Urgences Sante has responded to hundreds of calls for carbon monoxide poisoning, many from residents using generators too close to their dwellings or even worse, cooking indoors. A third person died in South Stormont in eastern Ontario after being crushed by a falling tree.

The freezing rain fell fast and furious last Wednesday, driven by 65km/h winds. A remarkable ice storm for the month of April. (T. Giotsalitis Photo) 

In eastern Ontario, nearly 200,000 were left without power from Ottawa to the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Nearly 40mm of freezing rain fell on Montreal in less than 14 hours last Wednesday into the early hours of Thursday morning. That amount set a 24 hour precipitation record for the date, the previous being 26.2mm set in 1957. It was also more freezing rain within a 24 hour period than during any similar period in the 1998 ice storm. The 1998 storm did have far more total precipitation, but it was spread out over 5 days. The weight of the ice and gusty northeast winds, at times in excess of 60km/h, had an immediate destructive impact on branches, power lines and poles.

Most municipalities responded by opening warming centres for their residents. Long lines formed at gas stations and any open restaurants.

Major disruptions also occurred for phone, cable and internet service across the metro Montreal region. Thankfully the sun came out on Saturday and the winds eased off from the 70km/h gusts reported on Friday. Easter Sunday will be mainly sunny, with a high of 9C (48F). By Thursday, the warmest air of the year arrives, with highs reaching 21C (70F). 

My power was out for almost 55 hours, and like many, we have had to dispose off all our food from our freezers. It amounts to quite a financial loss, one that will be experienced by many households. Other losses include exterior damage to buildings, cars and flooded basements due to sump pumps not working.