MONTREAL – Power has been restored to the majority of Quebec homes after last week’s intense cocktail of rain and wind and Hydro-Quebec hopes to have nearly everyone reconnected by Tuesday.
Hydro-Quebec workers were on the ground throughout the weekend, with the help of teams from other provinces and the U.S., to bring electricity back to almost a million customers affected by the storm.
"We have now about 50,000 people in Quebec without electricity out of 1 million that we had Friday in the morning," said Premier François Legault at the Monday morning news conference.
As of 4 p.m. Monday, around 43,600 Quebec households were left without power. Most of those homes are in the Eastern Townships and Centre-du-Quebec regions. In Montreal, about 475 homes remain in the dark.
"We have a lot of work done, but the rest of the work is not easy because instead of plugging in 100 or 200 people at a time, we're plugging in three or four people at a time. So, there's a lot of work to do," said Legault, adding that Hydro-Quebec is confident "most of these people" will regain electricity by Tuesday night.
Some 1,400 people are working to restore electricity to those still in the dark.
"For about 70 per cent to 75 per cent of the (remaining) blackouts, when we settle one it reconnects five, 10, 20 clients," said Eric Martel, Hydro-Quebec president and CEO. "So obviously it's taking longer."
The Crown Corporation is reminding people not to approach power lines and to never use outdoor equipment, such as barbecues and generators, inside.
