Hydro-Québec crews worked to restore power in several regions Monday after a violent and deadly storm ripped through Quebec and Ontario over the weekend.
The Crown corporation said that the lights are back on for about 60 per cent of affected households as of the morning. At the height of the storm, more than 550,000 customers were without electricity.
“It is impossible to give precise restoration times for the remaining affected customers,” Hydro-Québec wrote on social media. “Some of the remaining outages are likely to take longer, due to the extensive damage to the network and the difficult access to the lines.
“They will require a large number of targeted interventions.”
A destructive storm swept through southern Quebec and Ontario on Saturday, killing at least 10 people. Heavy rain and high winds uprooted trees and downed power lines while shingles and siding were removed from some homes.
The hardest-hit areas in Quebec include the Laurentians, Outaouais and Lanaudière regions.
Jonatan Julien, the province’s energy and natural resources minister, said about 227,000 households remained in the dark as of early Monday. As of 5:30 p.m., it was about 165,000 homes.
Reinforcement was called to help Hydro-Québec crews, which have been working “non-stop” to restore power, he added.
With the cleanup underway, officials are asking the population to remain safe and to not approach electrical wires on the ground.
— with files from Global News’ Irelyne Lavery and The Canadian Press