Quebec faces power outages, school closures after freezing rain, snowfall
More than 175,000 customers woke up to homes with no electricity Thursday morning, as the province continued to deal with the fallout of a major winter storm that continued overnight.
Some schools, including all schools under the Lester B. Pearson School Board, will also remain closed on Thursday because of power outages and poor road conditions.
Montreal and the Montérégie were among those hardest hit by the outages Thursday morning, with more than 32,000 addresses affected in Montreal and more than 80,000 in the Montérégie.
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Service disruptions on Montreal's light-rail network, the REM, also continued Thursday morning between the Gare-Centrale and Brossard stations because of ice accumulating.
In a news release, the REM's operator said it hopes to get that line partially running — every 35 minutes — during the day on Thursday, but that it's unclear when service will return to normal.
Shuttle buses are in place in the meantime.
While Montreal saw freezing rain Wednesday, other parts of the province saw a mix of snow and ice pellets and a snowfall warning remained in effect Thursday for Baie-Comeau and Sept-Îles, where up to 40 centimetres of snow is expected to fall by Thursday afternoon.
Several schools in the Quebec City area also remained closed Thursday morning, though some daycare services were open.
This article was originally published for CBC News. With files from Radio-Canada and CBC's Daybreak