Bad weather is doing damage in the east of the country

(Montreal) The intense meteorological depression that has crossed southern and eastern Quebec, as well as the Maritime provinces, has caused damage, notably depriving hundreds of thousands of homes of electricity.

Posted on October 17, 2019 at 8:34 pm

The Canadian Press

In its evening report, Hydro-Quebec still reported more than 400 outages and some 36,000 customers without power. The Chaudiere-Appalaches and Capitale-Nationale regions remained the most affected. In the afternoon, the number of customers affected had exceeded 94,000 according to the website Info-breakdowns.

The state-owned company said it had mobilized nearly 600 assemblers to restore service. She said she was able to reconnect the majority of customers before the end of the day, but warned that some homes in isolated areas may be powerless until Friday.

The bursts caused several falls of tree branches, even uprooting or cracking trunks, which damaged the electricity distribution network. These same collapses caused all kinds of material damage to vehicles and properties.

In Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Power reported in the middle of the evening that some 3,500 customers were still in the dark. In New Brunswick, NB Power reported 186 outages and approximately 7,100 customers without electricity.

Storm wave

After maintaining special weather reports for much of the day on Thursday in several Maritime Provinces, as well as in Quebec, Environment Canada only had warnings in effect for Newfoundland and Labrador in the evening.

Throughout the day, the federal agency announced strong winds and risks of rising water levels, due to the tide period at medium amplitudes. The notice focused on the Rimouski, Mont-Joli, Matane, Gaspe, Perce, New-Carlisle and Chandler regions in eastern Quebec.

Environment Canada warned of potential coastal flooding and coastal erosion.

Heavy rains over a large part of the road and highway network in the greater Montreal area have caused some problems for motorists. The Sûrete du Quebec also called on drivers to be cautious.

In Nova Scotia, 40 to 70 millimeters of rain was expected, with the heaviest quantities falling on the south shore. Sudden floods, road water accumulations and floods in the lowlands were feared.