Over 12,000 still without power in Quebec after Friday's violent storms

Tuesday, July 23, 2013, 9:38 AM -

Over 12,000 Hydro Quebec customers are still without power as a result of violent storms last Friday in Quebec and Ontario.

Unfortunately, at 9 pm, there are still 16,000 clients without power. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

— Hydro-Québec (@hydroquebec) July 23, 2013

The utility says about 6,600 of the blacked-out customers are in the Laurentians, north of Montreal, and some 4,800 are in western Quebec. 

Friday's storms uprooted trees

At the height of the storm, about 560,000 Hydro Quebec customers had lost electricity and that number had fallen to 80,000 by late Sunday afternoon.

Hydro Quebec warns that some customers in areas most severely affected may have to wait until later Tuesday or even Wednesday for repairs to be completed.

The utility says more than 1,000 people, from Hydro-Quebec, private firms and NB Power in New Brunswick are working to restore power.

Quebec was particularly hard hit by the storm, which brought winds up to 100 km/h in some places, uprooted trees and even flipped some cars.

With files from The Canadian Press