The windstorm that blasted Quebec overnight knocked down trees and branches throughout the province, damaging cars, and starting fires.

There were gusts with windspeeds of more than 80 km/h in the Montreal area and windy weather is expected to continue Tuesday with gusts up to 90 km/h in the eastern portions of the province.

At its peak more than 109,000 people lost power in Quebec including 36,000 in Quebec City, 20,000 on the island of Montreal, and 10,500 in the Laurentians

The downed power lines sparked a dozen fires in the western part of Quebec City, and started a devastating fire in Magog.

In Montreal several cars were hit by falling trees and branches, and some roads were closed for hours.

Hydro Quebec dispatched more than 200 teams to trim trees and branches and reconnect power, upping that to 400 teams by midday.

As of 7 a.m. they'd restored power to thousands of people, although 96,000 customers were still in the dark: more than 25,000 in Quebec City, 17,000 in the Chaudiere-Appalaches, and 14,000 in Montreal. 

There were about 9,000 without power in the Eastern Townships, 9,000 in the Laurentians, and 4,000 in Laval.

Two hours later, at 9 a.m., Hydro Quebec was reporting that only 74,000 people were without electricity.

By noon that number was halved, to 32,000 and by 3 p.m. it was down to 14,750.