More than 1 million people were left without power today after the ice storm hit Canada’s two most populous provinces. The ice storm is hitting Canada just before the holiday weekend, bringing rain and strong winds, causing several trees to fall.
More than a million people were without power in Quebec and about 120,000 in Ontario by noon (1600 GMT), according to Poweroutage.com. The two provinces account for more than half of Canada’s total population of approximately 39 million.
Power providers in both provinces were working to restore power, but repairs are expected to continue for days, meaning many Canadians could spend the Easter weekend in the dark.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was elected to parliament in a Montreal constituency, offered to provide federal assistance if needed.
Montreal is among the hardest-hit areas in Quebec, accounting for about half of the total outages. “Seeing all these beautiful trees down, seeing lives disrupted, seeing similar challenges … (it’s) going to be a tough Easter weekend for a lot of families,” Trudeau said.
“Unfortunately, it’s the start of a long weekend and some areas are more complex that we won’t be able to reconnect right away,” said Regis Tellier, Hydro-Quebec’s vice-president of operations and maintenance.
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