MONTREAL - A wind storm that started brewing early Friday afternoon led to massive power outages across the province, with 350,000 homes reported to have lost their electricity supply at its peak on at 7 p.m.
The Montreal-area was been hard hit by the gusts, as 91,000 homes were without power at 7 p.m. according to Hydro Quebec, a total that represents approximately one in 11 homes. The total declined from 75,000 to 68,000 at 5 p.m. but peaked later at 91,000.
By 10 p.m. 43,000 homes were still without power in the Montreal area, and 251,000 were unplugged throughout the province.
The Laurentians, Lanaudiere and the Quebec City area have also been hit hard, as an even higher-proportion of homes in those areas were left without electricity.
Throughout the province, windows were smashed, thick branches toppled and some street lights were knocked down by the winds, which hit around 90 km/h.
The wind storm was expected to end at about 11 p.m. Friday.
Click here to see a photo gallery of some of the damage caused by the storm.
Readers are invited to share their photos of the damage via MyNews, or by tweeting them with @CTVMontreal in the message.
