Most Hydro-Québec customers will get power back Wednesday, some to remain in dark indefinitely

Thousands of Quebecers are spending another day in the cold and dark, as hydro crews work to restore electricity to those affected by power outages after a fierce winter storm last week.

As of 7 p.m. Monday, power was still out for nearly 50,000 Hydro-Québec customers.

At the height of the storm, nearly 380,000 Quebec customers lost electricity.

The vast majority of clients will regain power by Wednesday night, Hydro-Québec CEO Sophie Brochu said at a news conference on Monday. There were about 2,000 power outages and, of those, 1,000 affect no more than five customers, according to Brochu.

"We are at that point where it's like a surgery," she said. "It's working really hard to restore [power] to very few people. This is why it's taking longer."

Brochu said Hydro-Québec couldn't provide a specific time for when power would be restored to all customers because of unforeseen trees and other objects blocking crews from accessing what are already difficult-to-reach areas in need of repairs. 

"People can't get there with the big trucks. They actually need to get there on Ski-Doos, on snowshoeing, bringing the equipment to restore power," she said.

"As we move forward ... we will face more complex situations."

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The Capitale-Nationale, Côte-Nord and Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean remain the hardest-hit regions. About 1,200 hydro crews from across the province are on their way there to lend support.

Julie Sbeghen, Hydro-Québec's senior director of operations and maintenance for Central Quebec, said improved visibility allowed the Crown utility to deploy 10 helicopters to deice paths for repair work. 

Brochu asked Quebecers to refrain from touching wires on the ground and trees for safety reasons.

On Sunday, Brochu said more than 550,000 clients had lost power at one time or another since Thursday evening.

Via Rail to reopen tracks Tuesday

A Christmas Eve train derailment is also continuing to wreak havoc on holiday travel plans in Quebec.

After cancelling all Christmas Day trains on its Toronto-Montreal and Toronto-Ottawa routes, Via Rail tweeted on Sunday evening that it was cancelling all Boxing Day trains due to ongoing complications.

CN will be reopening its tracks on Tuesday, Via Rail confirmed on Twitter on Monday afternoon.

Via Rail plans to run all trains between Toronto and Montreal on Tuesday with a modified schedule, which will be available on its website.

Early Monday morning,  some delays were reported at Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport and at Jean Lesage International Airport in Quebec City. 

Environment Canada has issued several blowing snow advisories for the majority of regions between Montreal and Quebec, adding that "hazardous road conditions can be expected due to reduced visibility in some areas."

Snow removal in Montreal

Despite Montreal receiving milder weather than expected in the past few days, the city is launching a snow removal operation on Monday evening in 12 boroughs that saw the heaviest snowfall. 

The entirety of the road network has been cleared recently, Philippe Sabourin, spokesperson for the City of Montreal, said in an interview with RDI. Sidewalks were salted at least twice to minimize danger from the frost and rain.

"The storm didn't happen as expected, and that's good," he said. "We had less snow, less water. On the other hand, the high winds, we didn't escape from them."

He added that the city received about 40 complaints in two days concerning sidewalk conditions. 

Snow removal operations will take place in the following boroughs:

• Anjou.
• Le Plateau-Mont-Royal.
• Montréal-Nord.
• Outremont.
• Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles.
• Saint-Laurent.
• Saint-Léonard.
• Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension.
• Ahuntsic-Cartierville.
• Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.
• Pierrefonds-Roxboro.
• Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie.