Nearly 8,000 Hydro-Quebec customers without power on Monday morning after snowstorm

A snowstorm hit Quebec on March 10, 2024 leaving Montreal and other regions covered with snow on Monday morning. (Daniel J. Rowe, CTV News)

The number of Hydro-Québec customers without power as a result of the weekend snowstorm fell considerably overnight on Monday, but remained stable in the morning.

Shortly before daybreak, Hydro-Québec reported that some 6,300 of its customers were without power. Just over 24 hours earlier, the number was more than 121,000.

At around 10 a.m. on Monday, 180 outages were still affecting the state-owned company, leaving nearly 8,000 of its customers without power. The regions most affected by the power cuts were, in order, Mauricie, Quebec City and the island of Montreal.

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Environment Canada reported on Monday that the worst of the storm had passed for several regions in southern, western and central Quebec. However, the regions further east may soon get hit by bad weather, with heavy snow and wind forecast for the Gaspé Peninsula and the North Shore.

In these two regions, up to 30 centimetres of snow was possible on Monday, according to the federal agency, which added that heavy waves and coastal overflows could also occur, particularly in Rimouski, Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, Gaspé and Carleton-sur-Mer.

A storm surge warning has also been issued for the Quebec City area.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 11, 2024.