Cleaning up after Montreal's storm: floods, fallen branches and power outages
Hydro-Québec says 85% of clients should have power restored by end of Friday
After a severe thunderstorm, Quebecers are still recovering from floods, power outages and fallen trees.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) said the storm front that hit the Montreal area on Thursday afternoon caused two tornadoes to touch down — one in Ottawa and one in Mirabel, Que. — as torrential rains fell and strong winds blew.
Though the tornado in Ottawa damaged 125 homes, Mirabel was left without damage.
The heavy winds as fast as 98 kilometres broke trees and damaged Hydro-Québec equipment.
Images shared on social media showed flooded basements, malls and Metro stations. Though six underpasses had to close due to flooding Thursday evening, all have reopened, said city spokesperson Philippe Sabourin.
In Montreal, about 85 millimetres of rain fell in two hours.
"No city in the world has the infrastructure to handle that much rain," he said.
The city says it wants to create more green spaces that can act as sponges, so water gets absorbed into the ground rather than drained into sewers during rain deluges.
Firefighters were deployed to help pump water out of buildings.
Sabourin said the city typically gets 90 millimetres of rain in July — meaning Montreal received almost as much rain it usually sees in July in the span of two hours. The city's sewers simply don't have the capacity to hold that much water, he said, explaining the floods. The area south of the downtown core was most affected.
About 130 homes were flooded, and the city's 311 line received over 1,300 calls. About 300 trees and branches fell, and blue collar workers will be on cleanup duty Friday, said Sabourin.
"We have enough manpower today, it's nothing compared to the ice storm we saw in April," he said.
Sabourin says it's important to follow Environment Canada warnings, especially as intense weather events become more common due to climate change. He stresses homeowners should ensure their check valves, which help water flow, are in working order.
The city also strongly recommends people avoid participating in water sports today as the rain water could have contaminated the St. Lawrence River.
Power outages
Over 200,000 Hydro-Québec customers were still without power as of 7 a.m. Friday, including a trade school, the Gordon Robertson Beauty Academy, in Beaconsfield, Que., which had to close for the day. As of 6 p.m., about 45,000 customers were still without power.
In the hours leading up to the storm, half a million Hydro-Québec customers across the province lost power as forest fires in the James Bay region triggered grid protection mechanisms. Just as power was beginning to be restored, the numbers shot up again as the storm swept through.
The utility says the large majority of customers who lost their power should have it back by the end of the day, but it warns that between 40,000 and 50,000 clients may still be in the dark until Sunday.
Several outages only affect around 50 clients, and those that affect a larger number of addresses are being prioritized. Hydro-Québec says it has 800 people on the ground.
"We were ready, saw it coming, we put teams in place to be proactive," said head of Hydro-Québec's energy flow control, Maryse Dalpé.
Dalpé stresses that people not get close to fallen power lines or pieces of equipment. It also reminds the public not to use barbecues or generators indoors or anywhere near the home to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.
Music festival evacuated
In Quebec City, the Festival d'été de Québec had to pull the plug on its headliner — Les Cowboys Fringants — and evacuate the grounds for the second time this week due to weather. The festival added a 12th date Monday, and the headliner is set to perform then.
Quebec City received 58 millimetres of rain in two hours.
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with files from Elias Abboud and Daybreak