Hydro-Québec provides an update on the power outages and thanks its customers for their understanding

MONTREAL, July 20, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - A front of severe thunderstorms and high winds swept through southern Québec Friday evening, causing numerous outages, mainly in the greater Montréal area and Montérégie region as well as in the Laurentides, Laval, Lanaudière, Outaouais and Centre-du-Québec. Several hundred employees and contractors are hard at work to restore service to our customers as soon as possible. Already, more than 250,000 households have their power back on. At the height of the storm, nearly 560,000 customers were without electricity.

The power system sustained heavy damages because of trees and branches falling on the lines. This situation is making it harder for our crews to repair the system, since they must first clear the debris.

Power has already been restored to 95% of customers in and around the city of Québec and to about 75% of households in Montréal and the Montérégie. Service to the remaining customers in these areas should be restored progressively today and tomorrow.

The Laurentides, Laval, Lanaudière and Outaouais regions were hit more severely. We are working hard to restore power to as many customers as possible by tomorrow night. Given the extent of the damages, however, full service restoration will take a few days in some areas.

Nearly 1,000 Hydro-Québec employees and contractors have been deployed. This includes some crews from eastern Québec and about 100 workers from other utilities who are on their way to join in the restoration effort.

Hydro-Québec wishes to thank all affected customers for their patience and understanding.

SOURCE: Hydro-Québec

Media Team
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