A windstorm that hit Quebec Tuesday night has left tens of thousands of Hydro-Quebec customers in the dark. “Gusts reaching over 100 km/h in some areas caused significant damage to the network, and several pieces of equipment need to be replaced,” said Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). Destruction was reported across the Island of Montreal, and a 15-year-old boy is in critical condition after a tree fell on him during the storm. Some of the damage includes fallen trees and wires, two fires, one in Verdun and another in Ahuntsic-Cartierville, and a wall collapse at the Air Canada building in the borough of Saint Laurent. “Early indicators do suggest it was more of a downburst event rather than a tornado,” said Eric Tomlinson, a meteorologist with ECCC. “With a tornado, we’re talking about rotation, a very narrow damage path. Whereas with a downburst, the damage is a little bit more widespread, we’re talking about straight-line winds.” At the peak of the storm, nearly 144,000 customers were without electricity. “More than 500 teams are on the ground working to restore service as quickly as possible,” ECCC notes. “Teams will move from less affected regions to more affected ones.” Check here for updates throughout the day. 1:55 p.m. The number of addresses without electricity stands at 43,557 across the province, with 13,571 in the Laurentians and 7,117 in Outaouais. The Montérégie is at 6,041, Laval is at 5,799 and Montreal is at 1,645. 1 p.m. There are now 50,751 addresses in the dark across the province. The highest concentration of customers affected is in the Laurentians at 13,786, followed by the Montérégie at 9,257 and Outaouais at 8,751. Laval is down to 4,562 and Montreal is at 1,625. 11:40 a.m. The total number of Hydro-Quebec customers without electricity is now 61,502. The Laurentians region is at 15,410 and the Montérégie is at 12,364. They remain the most heavily-affected areas of the province, followed by Outaouais at 9,600 and Laval at 8,916. Montreal currently has 3,888 addresses in the dark. 10:30 a.m. The number of addresses without electricity is down to 71,940. The Laurentians still leads the outages at 18,147, followed by the Montérégie at 14,498 and Outaouais at 11,230. Meanwhile, Laval is now at 9,404 and Montreal is at 6,463. 8:40 a.m. The number of Hydro-Quebec customers without electricity remains steady at 88,376. The Laurentians is at 21,805 blackouts, followed by the Montérégie (16,651) Laval (12,946), Montreal (11,255) and Outaouais (11,298). 7:15 a.m. The total number of outages has lowered slightly to 88,304. The most affected region remains the Laurentians at 23,289 addresses in the dark. It is followed by the Montérégie (16,598) Laval (12,842), Montreal (11,381) and Outaouais (11,312). 6:15 a.m. A frost advisory is in effect for Montreal. According to ECCC, temperatures are expected to drop below the freezing mark Wednesday night. “Take preventative measures to protect frost-sensitive plants and trees,” the agency notes. “Frost advisories are issued when temperatures are expected to reach the freezing mark during the growing season, leading to potential damage and destruction to plants and crops.” 6 a.m. There are currently 90,126 Hydro-Quebec customers without electricity. The worst-affected region is the Laurentians, with 23,660 locations in the dark. Outages in the Montérégie stand at 17,383, followed by Laval (14,722), Montreal (11,414) and Outaouais (10,998). The only region in the province with no outages is the Nord-du-Québec.
