Most Quebec power outages fixed by Wednesday, but some to last indefinitely
Thousands of Quebecers are spending another day in the cold and dark, as hydro crews work to restore electricity to those affected by the power outages after a fierce winter storm last week.
As of 12:30 p.m. Monday, power was still out for more than 60,000 Hydro-Québec customers.
At the height of the storm, nearly 380,000 Quebec customers lost electricity.
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The vast majority of clients will regain power by Wednesday night, CEO of Hydro-Québec Sophie Brochu said at a news conference Monday. There were about 2,000 power outages and, of those, 1,000 affect no more than five customers, according to Brochu.
"We are that point where it's like a surgery," she said. "It's working really hard to restore [power] to very few people. This is why it's taking longer."
Brochu said Hydro-Québec couldn't provide a specific time for when power would be restored to all customers because of unforeseen trees and other objects blocking crews from accessing what are already difficult to reach areas in need of repairs.
"People can't get there with the big trucks. They actually need to get there on Ski-Doos, on snowshoeing, bringing the equipment to restore power," she said.
"As we move forward ... we will face more complex situations."
The Capitale-Nationale, Côte-Nord and Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean remain the hardest-hit regions. About 1,200 hydro crews from across the province are on their way there to lend support.
Julie Sbeghen, Hydro-Québec's senior director of operations and maintenance for Central Quebec, said improved visibility allowed the Crown utility to deploy 10 helicopters to deice paths for repair work.
Brochu asked Quebecers to refrain from touching wires on the ground and trees for safety reasons.
On Sunday, Brochu said more than 550,000 clients had lost power at one time or another since Thursday evening.
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Transit delays
A Christmas Eve train derailment is also continuing to wreak havoc on holiday travel plans in Quebec.
After cancelling all Christmas Day trains on its Toronto-Montreal and Toronto-Ottawa routes, Via Rail tweeted Sunday evening that it was cancelling all Boxing Day trains due to ongoing complications.
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Early Monday morning, some delays were reported at Montreal's Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau International Airport and at Jean-Lesage International Airport in Quebec City.
Environment Canada has issued several blowing snow advisories for the majority of regions between Montreal and Quebec, adding that "hazardous road conditions can be expected due to reduced visibility in some areas."
This story, written by Holly Cabrera, was originally published by CBC News on December 26, 2022.