Hundreds of thousands of homes in the Laval, Laurentians and Lanaudière regions will not have their power restored until Wednesday morning, confirmed Public Security Minister Geneviève Guilbault.
“If citizens need help, they can contact their municipalities, they can contact the police forces or anyone over there who is available to give this kind of help,” she said.
“The government is following this situation closely.”
As of 8 p.m. Tuesday, more than 160,000 homes across Quebec remain without power.
WATCH: People in the Laval, Laurentians and Lanaudière will not have their power restored until Wednesday morning, confirmed Public Security Minister Geneviève Guilbault.
This comes after freezing rain and strong winds are causing widespread power outages and five cases of carbon-monoxide poisoning.
Evelyne Boudreau, spokesperson for Laval police, says a family of four was heating their home with a barbecue; an 11-year-old girl was brought to hospital.
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Officers also found a man unconscious in his home. He was also heating his home with a barbecue.
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Boudreau says all five people are in stable condition.
READ MORE: Freezing rain prompts power outages across southern Quebec
The City of Laval has opened up two community centres for residents needing a place to stay warm, charge phones or have a shower. About 130 people were staying at the two temporary shelters. Numerous schools were also closed in the region due to the lack of electricity.
As of Tuesday evening, about 46,000 homes in Laval remain in the dark. In the Laurentians and in Lanaudière, that number is over 50,000.
In Montreal, there are just over 1,000 people without power.
“The freezing rain and the wind are causing branches and trees to come in contact with our network,” Hydro-Quebec explained.
“We are deploying every available crew in order to re-establish the service as fast as possible.”
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About five to 10 centimetres of heavy snow is expected to fall on the Greater Montreal Tuesday evening.
“This snow could bring an additional weight on structures and trees that are already covered in freezing precipitation,” Environment Canada warns.
Hydro-Quebec says additional crews from other areas of the province are being called in to help.
READ MORE: Montreal says it’s ready to clear snow from major winter storm
“However, the weather and the very large amount of outages could mean that some customers might be back on the grid only in a few hours, depending on how their area is impacted,” Hydro-Quebec stated.
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Canada Post said Tuesday the harsh weather conditions “are impeding mail delivery in the Montreal region.”
“While every effort is being made to deliver the mail, some customers may not receive mail today,” it stated.
“Delivery will resume once it’s safe to do so.”
Canada Post is asking Montreal residents to clear and salt their walkways and stairs to enable them to work safely.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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