Hydro-Québec says crews are still working to restore power to more than 80,000 customers in the province and that it could take until this weekend to get everyone back on the grid.
Thousands of residents have been left in the dark since Saturday after a severe spring storm devastated large areas of the province, knocking down trees and power lines.
The worst-hit region is still the Laurentians, where about 50,000 customers are still without electricity. On Wednesday afternoon, some 18,000 customers in Lanaudière were without electricity and more than 15,000 in the Outaouais.
At a news conference Wednesday in Morin-Heights, a small, hard-hit town in the Laurentians, Hydro-Québec president and CEO Sophie Brochu said teams are working “as soon as possible” to restore energy in every household.
“We will not leave until everyone has reconnected,” he told reporters.
TARGET | The president of Hydro-Québec explains when the electricity will be restored:
The crews are working “as fast as we can,” says the president of Hydro-Québec
Sophie Brochu says more crews are expected to be deployed to remote areas to help restore energy to affected homes, with the aim of being “very far” in the process from Saturday.
Brochu said the public company has about 700 crews (or 1,400 people) working all day, including private contractor crews, regions that have not been affected by the outages and even some in New Brunswick. .
Régis Tellier, Hydro-Québec’s vice president of operations and maintenance, said he expects to reconnect 50,000 customers by the end of the day, “but we can’t wait to reconnect all customers before Friday, maybe even later. “.
Neighbors remained in the dark, the mayor says
Morin-Heights was hit by Saturday’s storm. Fallen trees were seen above the cars and on the roofs, and electrical wires soiled the streets.
Mayor Tim Watchorn said Wednesday that 75 percent of residents still do not have electricity. And while the public utility is asking for patience, he said people in the community are starting to feel frustrated.
“[Hydro-Québec] He can’t give us a timeline from now on, “he said.” It’s hard for people not to know. “
Mayor Tim Watchorn says 75% of Morin-Heights residents still do not have electricity. (Marika Wheeler / CBC)
Because many residents depend on wells, even showering and using the sink is impossible for some. Without the internet, telephones or stoves, many are isolated from the world.
“It’s hard not to know what’s going on and when you’re going to regain your power,” Watchorn said.
Chalet Bellevue, the local community center, has been transformed into an emergency shelter since the weekend storm. A generator has been connected that allows people to charge their phones, cook, fetch water and shower.
On Wednesday, Patricia Clark was at the community center trying to download books to read on her iPad. She was grateful to have reconnected as she had no electricity at home since Saturday afternoon.
“It was very painful to throw everything in the fridge and freezer … but Morin-Heights has been great, they give you, you know, everything.”
Demolished trees, land that causes delays
Hydro-Québec says the size of the affected area is a key reason for delays in turning on the light.
The violent storm hit a part of the territory 300 kilometers long by 100 kilometers wide, according to Brochu, which runs from the Outaouais to Quebec City.
He said half a million customers lost electricity in three to four hours and that more than 554,000 customers were without electricity at the peak of the event.
“It was crazy,” he said. “Since the ice storm, this is pretty much the biggest event we’ve seen.”
Brochu said the complex nature of the work to be done in some regions could also pose risks and create complications, causing further delays.
Some 700 Hydro-Québec crews, or 1,400 people, are working to restore energy across the province.
Crews have to remove power lines that have fallen to the ground under the weight of uprooted trees, replace hundreds of poles and navigate difficult terrain that sometimes prevents work trucks from reaching the affected areas, he said.
Brochu said repairs in remote areas only restored service to a small number of customers at once, hence the plateau in the number of customers regaining power.
“We know you’re there, we’ll work as hard and fast as we can,” he told neighbors.
As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 470,000 customers had restored electricity. Energy has been re-energized for all homes in the Mauricie, Quebec and Montreal regions.