Christmas Eve: Almost 230,000 Quebec homes and businesses without power

Thousands of Quebecers will celebrate Christmas without electricity.

As of Saturday afternoon, Hydro-Québec announced that nearly 230,000 customers were still without power from the day before. No part of Quebec was spared these blackouts.

51,843 Hydro-Québec subscribers woke up Saturday without power in the capital-national region.

At a press conference, Hydro-Québec’s president and CEO, Sophie Brochu, compared the situation A snake and ladder game. In fact, 200,000 new breakdowns were added on Friday evening, even though 200,000 households were connected through the network.

From the Hydro-Québec coordination centre, Eric Filion, executive vice-president of the government corporation, noted that the repair situation was progressing, but we had to deal with Small breaks Few customers will be reached.

We have 25% of the 250,000 outages affecting fewer than five customers, and 50% of the outages affecting fewer than 20 customers.

He noted that the violent winds of 125 km/h were recorded in the Quebec region, which created additional blackouts, especially in the eastern part of the province.

These weather elements slowed down the workThe end of the blizzard, he noted, could have consequences on lines, but is good news for Hydro-Québec.

The outages are mainly related to heavy snowfall on our wires and plantsHe assured that a team of 12,000 personnel is working to restore power. Regarding the new outages tonight, we are patrolling the network to understand the extent of the damage.

Hydro-Québec’s aim is to reconnect most subscribers by Sunday evening, Mr. Filone promised, meaning Christmas dinner, although he would not comment on the status of the new outages in recent hours.

The network stopsMr. Teller noted, however, that hundreds of wooden poles of the distribution network were damaged in different areas. They should be replaced.

About 1,200 Hydro-Québec workers have been mobilized since Friday, including line workers and customer service teams.

Service centers for disaster victims have been opened across the region.Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, said on RDI’s airwaves in the afternoon. They will be open to welcome all these people. If there are still hours to open, we’ll do it.

Be careful on the roads

The effects of a severe winter storm hitting Quebec are also complicating road conditions.

Gilles Bayer, a spokesman for the Minister des Transports, notes that the areas most affected by the weather conditions include roads north of the St. Lawrence River, from the south to the lower north bank, including mountainous areas, Saguenay and Abidibi. As well as Beuse.

The [régions] Bas-Saint-Laurent and coastal Gaspésie are all concerned about the dangers of coastal wavesHe noted.

All roads in the province, including the center and metropolitan area of ​​Quebec, Monterrey and Estrey, to a lesser extent, are covered in ice and sometimes cleared, the spokesman said.

Visibility on roads is highly variable, from good to reduced and in many places zero, he says. A pile-up involving around twenty vehicles occurred near the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge in the Vaudreuil-Dorion section at 9:10 this morning.

The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) and there were no fatalities or serious injuries. Although digging work is still going on, officials say that part of the road axis is scheduled to open soon.

Another accident involving a dozen vehicles took place on Southern Highway 15 in the Mirabel sector. The emergency response is now complete. Road conditions will continue to vary from one area to another even after the rains endremembered SQ.

Reduced visibility caused by strong winds and blowing snow forced the closure of traffic on several arteries in the area, notably Route 381 between Charlevoix and the Saguenay River and Route 389 towards Fermont in Baie-Comeau. As for Route 138 between Baie-Comeau and Port-Cartier, it is now open.

Air and rail travel is still disrupted

Montreal-Trudeau International Airport is experiencing disruptions to most flights on Saturday. Most departures are currently delayed. The same is the case with those who come.

As of December 24, 25 flights out of a total of 401 have been cancelled. These are mainly domestic flights. It is important for travelers to check their flight status before going to the airport and arrive at least 3 hours earlyInstructs the airport.

For Via Rail, more than fifteen trains were immobilized or canceled on the Quebec City-Windsor corridor Saturday morning and passengers Stuck on the tracks for hours.

Due to power outages, trees on the tracks and trees falling on the locomotives, some trains are unable to run.A spokesperson for Via Rail explained via email.

Via Rail has promised full refunds to passengers traveling on these trains, urging passengers to check the company’s website before heading to the station. Significant delays On the route connecting Ontario with Quebec.

With information from the Canadian Press