More than a million people were without power in eastern Canada, including Quebec, on Wednesday night due to a storm that damaged power lines.
More than 945,000 Hydro-Quebec customers lost power, out of a total of 4.5 million.
“The breakdowns are mainly caused by falling branches or trees that give way under the weight of the ice,” the power company explained on its site.
Montreal mayor calls for vigilance
Nearly half of them (440,000) were in Montreal, where city crews were working to clear roads damaged by snapped trees and downed power lines.
The police in this city received a “high volume of calls in relation to the ice storm”, while the mayor of the Quebec metropolis, Valérie Plante, called for surveillance.
In neighboring Ontario, more than 112,000 customers also lost power due to a winter storm that “caused trees and branches to fall on power lines,” according to electricity provider Hydro.One.
In the Canadian capital, Ottawa, however, the alerts were raised at night.
Source: BFM TV
