Hydro-Québec crews are out in the field clearing debris and working to restore power after a severe thunderstorm ripped through the southern half of the province late Sunday.
More than 24,000 customers remained in the dark as of 11 a.m. Monday. At its peak Sunday evening, that number was more than 80,000.
The regions that remained the most affected by the outages on Monday were those of Lanaudière and the Laurentians. Hydro-Québec says 180 people are on the ground to restore service in those two regions.
Montreal was spared the worst of the storm, but thousands were still left in the dark.
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“We estimate that 95 per cent of customers affected by the outage should have service restored by 5 p.m. today,” the public utility said in a tweet. “Thank you for your patience.”
The short-lived yet tenacious storm had strong winds and heavy rains causing significant damage, downing trees and knocking power lines.
According to Environment Canada, close to 40 millimetres of torrential rain fell in a short period of time.
Ping-pong ball-sized hail was even reported in the northern regions of the province.
Scattered thunderstorms will continue through Tuesday, Environment Canada forecasts, following the weekend’s hot and humid weather conditions.
— with files from Global News’ Kalina Laframboise
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