Five people have died and tens of thousands remain without power following severe thunderstorms that swept through Ontario and Quebec on Saturday.
Gatineau police say a 51-year-old woman died when the boat she was in capsized in the Ottawa River near Masson-Angers during Saturday’s storm.
A 44-year-old man had been killed in Greater Madawaska, west of Ottawa, after being struck by a falling tree, according to the Ontario Provincial Police, while Ottawa police have said one person had died in the west of the city, without giving details.
A woman in her 60s was killed by a falling tree while walking in Brampton, west of Toronto, according to Peel Regional Police.
The Ontario Provincial Police report that one person was killed and two others injured when a tree fell on a camping trailer near Lake Pinehurst in the Region of Waterloo.
One person was seriously injured in the western sector of Ottawa, the Federal Capital Police Department reported.
Winds up to 151 km/h
Strong winds were recorded in several places, in particular on Lake Memphremagog with gusts of up to 151 km/h, in Trois-Rivières with peaks at 96 km/h and in Gatineau up to 90 km/h, late Saturday afternoon. In Ontario, peaks of 132 km/h were recorded in the Waterloo region.
In Quebec, at the height of the event, some 550,000 customers were without power, said Hydro-Quebec.
Late Sunday morning, nearly 377,000 remained without electricity. The most affected regions are the Laurentians where nearly 147,000 households are concerned, followed by Lanaudière (94,000 customers) and Outaouais (89,000 customers).
On Sunday, Hydro-Québec mentioned that “the recovery has progressed overnight and (that) more than 400 teams (more than 800 workers) are mobilized this morning. »
The state-owned company reminds that in the event of wires on the ground, it is important not to approach and rather call 911 to secure the premises.
It is also not able to give a recovery time on its Info-Breakdowns application, because it is a major breakdown. Teams may be required to travel to a priority location.
In Ontario on Sunday, about 271,000 Hydro One customers were without power, while Hydro Ottawa reported more than 725 outages affecting more than 176,500 customers.
The Montreal region was generally spared by the storms, which moved from Ontario in the regions of Outaouais, Laurentides, Lanaudière and Mauricie to that of the Capitale-Nationale on Saturday at the end of the afternoon. Estrie and Chaudière-Appalaches were affected by another storm cell overnight, around 3 a.m. Sunday.
Damaged buildings
Several municipalities reported fallen trees and breakage.
In Quebec City, part of the roof of a building of 72 condos was blown away in the Vanier district in the early evening. Residents had to be evacuated and only those on the lower floors were able to return to their homes later in the evening, explained Alexandre Lajoie of the Quebec City Fire Protection Service in an email.
While the structure of the building was not damaged, water did seep into the upper floor units. Thirty condos will not be able to be reinstated and some residents have been taken care of by the Red Cross.
In addition, several traffic lights are not working in Quebec, the Quebec City Police Service reported.
In Lanaudière, two schools were damaged by the weather. These are the Sainte-Bernadette school in Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes and the Saint-Alphonse school in Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez, according to a note published by the Samares School Services Center, which indicates that it is working with experts to assess the situation and “organize the return to class in a safe manner”.
In Val-Morin, in the Laurentians, residents are asked to reduce their consumption of drinking water to a strict minimum. “Due to the power outage, the supply of water produced by our pumping stations is at a standstill,” the municipality wrote on its Facebook page.
In Outaouais, several Fassett residents have shared photos of the Saint-Fidèle church, built in 1918, on social networks, whose bell tower has collapsed.
Storm and tornado watch
Quebec may not have finished with the wind as Sunday afternoon and evening, the conditions will be conducive to the formation of violent thunderstorms that could produce tornadoes.
Estrie and part of Chaudière-Appalaches, along the US border, are the subject of Environment Canada alerts.
In addition, the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, from Cornwall to Gaspésie as well as part of New Brunswick, may be affected by thunderstorms on Sunday.
Strong winds, large hail and heavy rain are also possible, warns Environment Canada.
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