More than 100 calls for falling on ice as winter storm knocks out power to thousands in Montreal

More than 48,000 Hydro-Québec customers were without power as of Wednesday morning due to a coat of freezing rain across the province, and as the day went on, more than 100 Montrealers were injured, as well.

Between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., there were 125 calls to Urgences-Santé in Montreal and Laval related to people falling on ice.

Normally there's a total of five to 10 calls per day for these kinds of falls, said Urgences-Santé spokesperson Stephane Smith.

This morning, the service was getting 90 calls an hour, in total, for all reasons – also a significant jump, about twice the normal 45 to 55 calls per hour.

The extra calls came at a time of short-staffing among paramedics, many of whom are off work due to COVID-19 protocols.

Montreal was also the area most affected by power outages, with 36,038 customers in the dark in the morning.

In the Montérégie, 6,503 homes had no power, while those numbers stood at 2,702 in the Outaouais and 1,873 in the Laurentians.

Environment Canada had lifted its freezing rain warning earlier for several regions, including Montreal, the Laurentians and the Montérégie, but it remained in effect on Wednesday in Trois-Rivières, Beauce and Quebec City.

--With files from The Canadian Press