As messy winter storm nears, Quebecers prepare to ‘buckle down’

It was the calm before the storm.

People in Kirkland are concerned as they prep for a storm that could become messy.

“We’re trying to prepare — we have our candles at home. Our fireplace is electric, so we won’t be able to use it, but we’re pretty nervous,” said Jess Delaney, Kirkland resident.

Environment Canada says Laval and the greater Montreal area can expect about 15 to 20 centimetres of snow Tuesday night, followed by strong winds and periods of freezing rain.

“The amount of freezing rain isn’t that much and it’s going to be falling after a good amount of snow, so maybe less slippery roads but still, some concerns about power outages,” said Simon Legault, Environment Canada meteorologist. “Just plain heavy, wet snow can cause those power outages as well.”

And that makes many in Montreal’s West Island communities worried, as last April’s ice storm is still fresh in people’s minds.

“We lose power a lot — we’re on the forest here, so trees fall,” said Melissa Picard, a Kirkland resident. “We’re the first to lose power on the island most of the time. So we just buckle down, make sure we have candles, things to keep us warm.”

Many mayors of the cities and boroughs on the West Island say they’re ready in case of power outages.

But what worries them the most is Hydro-Quebec and how it plans to respond.

“In the short term, we need people to be on the ground and that wasn’t the case in April,” said Jim Beis, Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough mayor. “Especially on the West Island when we dealt with it. We knew that we were one of the last to be served. There were power failures, more than a week in some cases that really put a stranglehold on our community.”

Last November, Hydro said its plan is to invest $50 billion over the next decade to reduce power outages by 35 per cent.

But Beis says that’s too little and too far away.

Pointe-Claire’s mayor says burying the lines is the only way to go.

“I think other levels of government, if they want densification at the municipal levels, they’re going to have to kick in and start burying hydro lines because people are going to be tremendously inconvenienced,” Tim Thomas said.

Thomas says something needs to be done sooner rather than later, especially if we keep getting more of these weather events in the future.

Environment Canada says the province may see another mixed bag of weather this weekend.