MONTREAL - As Quebecers are battered by winds gusting up to 100 km/h Friday morning, Montreal and Laval police are urging the public not to use 911 to alert authorities of damage to their homes.
People with damaged property should just alert their insurance providers, the Service de Police de la Ville de Montreal said in a tweet Friday morning, adding that a police report is not necessary to make a damage claim.
911 should only be called if the heavy winds are posing a risk to people's safety or causing traffic hazards, police said.
Laval police later in the day echoed their Montreal colleagues' plea to the public to call 911 only in cases of emergency, not to report material damage.
Nearly a million homes across Quebec were without power as a result of Friday's storm, with more than 66,000 of those homes in Montreal.
