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High winds cause hundreds of thousands of homes to lose power in Quebec

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MONTREAL -

Nearly 340,000 Hydro-Quebec customers woke up without power Sunday morning due to outages caused by strong winds that blew overnight across southern Quebec.

By 2 p.m., the number of customers without power was just over 231,000.

Hydro-Quebec said the weather conditions caused "significant damage" on Sunday morning.

"More than 400 fitters are working to restore service. We are aiming to restore service to the majority within the next day," Hydro-Quebec wrote, warning that restoring power could take longer in some cases.

"Due to the magnitude of the event, it is unfortunately not possible to specify restoration times for each specific location," added Hydro-Quebec, which is urging its customers to be patient.

The number of customers affected by the outages has decreased since 6 a.m. when it was close to 380,000.

By 2 p.m., the vast majority of outages were in the Montérégie region, with 72,955 customers affected, according to a report from the utility.

The Laurentians, Lanaudière and Outaouais regions followed with 44,942, 26,487 and 28,993 customers affected respectively. In Montreal, there were 12,706 customers and in Laval, 14,133.

According to Environment Canada, maximum wind gusts of 106 km/h were measured at the Montreal airport. Winds gusted to around 90 km/h in several surrounding areas of southern Quebec.

"All the regions near the river had a taste of it," said meteorologist Maja Rapaic.

Areas in the Lower St. Lawrence, Gaspé, Saguenay and North Shore, however, continue to be subject to high winds.

The Surete du Quebec reported that a tractor trailer overturned shortly after midnight on Highway 13 in Laval due to high winds.

"The truck, which was empty at the time of the incident, ended up on the parapet separating the south and north spans (...) at the Bisson Bridge. The driver was trapped in the cab but suffered no injuries," said SQ spokesperson Sgt. Stephane Tremblay.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Dec. 12, 2021. 

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