Right here’s what to anticipate as Hydro-Québec scrambles to revive energy | CBC Information

Hydro-Québec is aiming to revive energy to not less than three-quarters of the shoppers who have been plunged into the darkish after Wednesday’s ice storm.

“All human, technical and monetary assets are being deployed to reconnect clients as rapidly as doable,” stated the general public utility’s president and CEO Sophie Brochu throughout a Thursday information convention.

This comes after freezing rain, snow and powerful wind gusts swept by southern Quebec on Wednesday, reducing electrical energy to over 1,000,000 clients.

Hydro-Québec officers are scheduled to maintain a information convention Friday morning at 11 a.m. to offer an replace on the scenario.

Premier François Legault stated whereas many individuals could have energy restored by Friday night, he anticipated 300- to 350,000 clients may nonetheless be with out electrical energy over the weekend.

Officers stated Thursday that Hydro-Québec’s first precedence is to make sure public security by attending to main hazards like fallen wires in roadways.

Subsequent, crews will focus on restoring energy to locations like hospitals, long-term care properties and seniors’ residences. From there, they are going to prioritize areas with excessive concentrations of shoppers.

About 25 % of all community interruptions have an effect on 1,000 subscribers or extra as Hydro-Québec crews scramble to take care of dozens of service interruptions unfold all through the community. The outages have been largely attributable to branches and timber falling on energy strains.

Tree surgeons have been referred to as in to help electrical crews.

Régis Tellier, vice-president of operations and upkeep for Hydro-Québec, stated the storm precipitated many small outages reasonably than interrupting major strains.

“There aren’t any breaks on strategic belongings,” stated Pierre Fitzgibbon, minister of economic system, innovation and power. General, he stated, the scenario is “very effectively managed.”

However with Montreal experiencing half of the province’s energy outages, he added, “clearly, it’s a disaster.”

Public Safety Minister François Bonnardel stated crews have been on the bottom some 72 hours upfront, making ready for what he described as a “mini ice storm.”

Atmosphere Canada experiences that as much as 35 millimetres of freezing precipitation fell on Montreal. 

On the South Shore, between 15 and 25 millimetres fell on the Montérégie area. As much as 30 millimetres within the Outaouais area.