More than a million Canadians lost electricity due to freezing rain. Canada’s two most populous provinces woke up Thursday morning without electricity after freezing rain and high winds struck the southeast the day before.
The electrical company for the Canadian province of Quebec reported that throughout Wednesday night and Thursday morning, they had deployed 1,000 employees to restore power after widespread blackouts.
Hydro-Quebec stated in a statement that it is “certain” it can reconnect some affected customers to the grid today.
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We are thankful for the efforts of the employees to clear roads and restore power in Quebec and Eastern Ontario after yesterday’s storm. Please take care of yourself and your neighbors, and see if you can check in on them. If help is required, we are here and ready to supply it.” Several customers are still likely to remain without power on Friday and over the weekend.” Over 1.1 million people in Quebec and 167,000 people in Ontario did not have electricity as of 10:35 am (14:35 GMT), according to Poweroutage.com. More than half of Canada’s 39.6 million people live in either Ontario or Quebec.
Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe stated that electricity would be restored to most of the city’s 65,000 impacted consumers by midday.
He warned that “falling debris and power outages impacting traffic signals” meant some parts of the nation’s capital were still dangerous.
While in Montreal on Thursday to discuss his government’s budget, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered federal aid if necessary.
Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau has pledged federal aid if needed.
According to Hydro-Quebec, Montreal is one of the areas hardest hit by the power outages caused by Wednesday’s ice storm.
On Twitter, Trudeau expressed his thoughts and gratitude to those working to clear roads and restore electricity in Quebec and Eastern Ontario following yesterday’s storm.