More than 100,000 homes were still without power yesterday, two days after the violent storm that turns out to be the most destructive to Hydro-Québec equipment in at least a decade, according to the state company.
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“It’s one of the very, very large [tempêtes] we’ve had in recent years,” said Régis Tellier, vice president of operations and maintenance for Hydro-Québec, who hadn’t seen such extensive damage in more than ten years.
“We are getting into the most important works […]. The further we go, the more difficult it is to find customers for the recovery, ”added the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Jonathan Julien, who accompanied Mr. Tellier in a meeting with the media yesterday in Sainte-Adèle in the Laurentians.
In this city where most residents still had no electricity yesterday, the storm was unprecedented, according to several residents interviewed by Le Journal.
“I saw some wind, but nothing like that,” said Réjeanne Arsenault, who notably lived in the Magdalena Islands.
Neighbors helping each other
The municipal administration of Sainte-Adèle had yesterday opened the community center, powered by a generator, so that its inhabitants can stock up on water, charge their electronic devices and have a few snacks.
“I see a lot of people going out on the street, helping each other. We invite citizens to call their neighbors, to make sure that everyone is correct, ”specifies the municipal councilor Alexandre Laganière, found on the spot.
In Sainte-Lucie-des-Laurentides, the Domaine Vacances Doncaster campsite yesterday opened its doors to residents of the area who were still without electricity.
“We saw that some of our neighbors on the street had no more water and could not take a shower. […] As we are operating with generators, we decided to offer our fellow citizens drinking water, hot showers and the means to recharge their cell phones”, specifies its owner Mélanie Boutin.
Although more than two-thirds of the 550,000 customers who suffered outages on Saturday had been reconnected by Hydro-Quebec last night, more than 165,000 customers were still without power.
The state company had said a few hours before that it expected to reconnect 80% of these homes by the end of the day yesterday, a proportion that was around 70%.
Most outages occurred in the Laurentians (81,000), Lanaudière (44,000), and Outaouais (31,000).
The death toll from Saturday’s severe thunderstorms rose to 10 yesterday with the death of a man crushed by a tree in Peterborough, Ontario. Remember that the only victim in Quebec is a 51-year-old woman who died after falling into the Ottawa River.
–With the QMI Agency
riot from hell
The small township of Fassett in the Outaouais is beginning to recover from its emotions after seeing its church steeple detached from the building now for commercial purposes.
Mayor François Clermont admits that his citizens narrowly escaped. Despite uprooted trees, smashed windows, and of course a bell tower literally ripped from its structure, no one was hurt.
“Several residences were damaged, debris was thrown through the windows, but luckily there were people inside,” said the mayor, who also mentioned that even for the oldest citizens, the storm was unheard of. Very few residents saw the bell tower fall, but all who were contacted by The newspaper He talked about one hell of a racket.
– louis deschenes
A candlelight wedding
As the storm hit the Laurentians, Tyler Jackson and Diana Moreno were preparing to get married in front of their home in Sainte-Adèle.
“We listen to all the alerts and move everything inside,” Ms. Moreno said.
Then, five minutes before the ceremony began, in their living room, the power went out. A candlelit wedding followed.
“Ultimately, it was a very romantic event,” he laughs.
Unlike many neighbors, the couple suffered very little damage to their wooded lot.
“We were very lucky. We were scared because we saw all the broken trees around us,” says Ms. Moreno.
– camille paying
Nearly 400 trees uprooted
Saturday’s storm hit La Vallée de Sainte-Adèle golf club hard.
“I have been working in golf for more than 30 years and this is the first time I have seen such violent winds. I saw trees snap in the parking lot,” says Daniel Corbeil (Photo), the professional of the club.
Twenty golfers were then in the middle of their game when the storm passed, around 5:30 p.m.
“Some people were scared. We are lucky, we had no injuries,” says Mr. Corbeil.
About 400 trees were then uprooted, most of them around the land. Dozens of people were still busy cleaning the golf course yesterday and are waiting for it to open over the weekend.
– camille paying
A Quebec first since 1999
The deadly storm that hit Ontario and western Quebec is a straighta rarely observed weather phenomenon in Quebec.
AN straightwhich means straight in Spanish, is “a very powerful line of thunderstorms that is forming in the midwestern United States,” says Antoine Petit, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.
It is characterized by winds in excess of 100 km/h and a storm formation that extends over several hundred or even several thousand kilometers.
“It is rare for it to overflow in Canada, except in the extreme south of Ontario,” Mr. Petit continues, specifying that the last one to hit Quebec dates back to 1999.
– Felix Pedneault, QMI Agency
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