Blackout!: Hydro Quebec says 'prepare to be affected' as high winds sweep the province

Montreal -

Hydro Quebec is telling residents they should "prepare to be affected" by strong winds causing power outages across the province. 

Nearly 213,000 Hydro-Quebec customers were deprived of electricity on Saturday evening after Environment Canada issued numerous warnings for storms, strong winds, and freezing rain.

Authorities forcasted strong, southwesterly winds were to gust up to 100 km/hr in most parts of southern Quebec through Saturday night into Sunday, when the high winds are expected to ease.

Quebecers can look to see if their home or neighbourhood is experiencing an outage through this website. 

Hundreds of outages were reported in the Montreal area Saturday night with some residents reported them lasting for several hours. Nearly every borough was affected. 

"The strong winds currently blowing through the province will continue to cause #outages. Prepare to be affected. Our teams are mobilised," wrote Hydro-Quebec to social media.

Montreal police asked residents to call 911 if falling infrustructure or trees posed safety risks.

The high-wind warning was called Saturday night in the following areas:

• Metro Montreal
• Laval
• The Vaudreuil area
• The Valleyfield - Beauharnois area
• The Quebec City area
• The Mont-Orford - Lake Memphrémagog area
• The Sherbrooke area

In Ontario, more than 140,000 people were also without power on Saturday night due to high winds.

Police in southern Ontario said they responded to several calls about fallen wires, trees, and flying debris.

- Published with files from The Canadian Press.