Canada: Over one million Hydro-Quebec customers still without power after ice storm

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By  India Blooms News Service   Apr 07, 2023

Montreal/IBNS: Over one million customers were still without power on Thursday morning, and some of them are likely to stay without it for days after an ice storm hit southern Quebec with falling trees and causing flooding.

Environment Canada said 40 millimetres of freezing rain coated tree limbs, breaking branches that fell on power lines.

Caused by falling branches or trees that gave way under the weight of the ice, the power outages are mostly in the Montreal area and the Outaouais region.

Montreal officials reported saying that they are still working on picking up branches and debris from the street, which could take days.

Pierre Fitzgibbon, the minister responsible for the Montreal area, reportedly said at a Thursday morning news conference that Hydro-Qubec has deployed about 1,100 workers to re-establish power.

Most schools in the Montreal area have been closed.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)