Power outages may last until early next week for some Hydro-Québec customers

Nearly 72 hours since the start of a fierce winter storm that swept across the province, tens of thousands of Hydro-Québec customers remain without power — and some will be eating Christmas dinner in the dark, the public utility said.

As of 11 a.m. on Sunday, more than 130,000 customers were without electricity due to more than 2,300 separate outages, most of them in the Quebec City area.

Fewer than 100,000 customers were without power by 3 p.m. 

Sophie Brochu, the chief executive officer of Hydro-Québec, said crews are working tirelessly to get power back to those who have been without it since the first day of the storm. 

"We are still confident that those who lost power on Friday will have it back for Christmas dinner tonight," she said at a news conference Sunday morning.

"As for the people who lost power more recently, we're asking people to prepare themselves for maybe a few days before being connected back." 

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The Capitale-Nationale, Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean and Côte-Nord regions are the hardest hit.

Brochu said the complexity of the situation, including wind and snow, is hindering progress in some areas. Hundreds of poles need to be replaced as wind gusts toppled trees onto power lines, which in turn caused hydro poles to fall.

At the peak of the storm on Friday, nearly 380,000 customers were without electricity. After the storm, Brochu said that number had climbed to 550,000.

Brochu says that unlike most storms, the number of separate outages is high in areas that serve a small number of customers

"Oftentimes, we would work on some [outages] and we would reconnect 2,000, 3,000 people at once," she said. "Now, we do exactly the same work, but [we reconnect] three, five, 50 people." 

"That's why it's taking so long."

Brochu said the goal is to restore service to a significant part of the population as of Sunday evening, but some areas will only see power beginning next week.

"We will do everything we can to do this as quickly as possible," she said.

Since the situation is improving in certain regions, Hydro-Québec said it will be able to transfer certain teams to lend a hand in the most affected areas. 

About 1,200 employees — some of whom are working 17-hour shifts — are currently on the ground working to restore power, Brochu said. 

Blowing snow advisories

While most Montreal residents woke up to lights on Christmas morning, a much-less-welcome gift had also rolled in overnight: a blowing snow advisory. 

Environment and Climate Change Canada says winds will gust up to 70 km/h and be combined with at times heavy flurries, which will produce near zero visibility.

"Travel is expected to be hazardous due to reduced visibility in some locations," said the federal agency. "Watch for snowdrifts due to blowing snow on roads, especially in exposed areas."

Blowing snow advisories are also in effect across southern Quebec, including in the Capitale-Nationale, Laurentians, Lanaudière, Mauricie, Laval, Vaudreuil-Soulanges and Sept-Îles.

On Saturday, highways around Montreal were blocked by multi-vehicle pileups. Across the province, roads were covered in ice and snow, with zero visibility in some places.