About five people have died and tens of thousands have been left without electricity after a fierce storm swept through Ontario and Quebec.
In Quebec, Gatineau police said a 51-year-old woman died when the boat she was on capsized in the Ottawa River near Mason-Angers, Quebec, during Saturday’s storm.
Ontario provincial police say a 44-year-old man was killed in Greater Madawasca, west of Ottawa, after he was reportedly hit by a falling tree, while Ottawa police said a man died in the western part of the city. but has not released more details.
Peel Regional Police say a 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree while walking in Brampton, Ont., Northwest of Toronto.
The OPP reported that one person was killed and two others were injured when a tree fell on a camping trailer near Pinehurst Lake in Brant County.
The city of Uxbridge, Ont., Declared a local state of emergency after the storm caused significant damage to the community.
A statement posted on the municipality’s website said there were massive power outages and many road closures due to downed trees and power lines.
Residents have been asked to stay at home to allow municipal workers to focus on removing road hazards instead of managing congestion.
Some of the strongest winds that hit Ontario as the line of thunderstorms developed near Sarnia and then moved west were in the Ottawa region. Environment Canada reported peak wind gusts of 120 km / h at Ottawa International Airport.
Storm response update
The Ottawa Police Department is conducting intensified operations in the most affected areas of the city last night.
Uniformed patrols have been increased in the most affected areas and will continue.#ottnews
– @OttawaPolice
At an emergency press conference on Saturday night, the head of the emergency services in the city of Ottawa, Kim Ayot, was surprised by the scale of the storm.
“He hit us hard, hit us fast … I was at the airport earlier and saw demolished telephone exchanges, uprooted large trees, several hydraulic lines were split in half. It was amazing. The clear area that was affected doesn’t look like anything I’ve never seen in my memory. “
Authorities in Ottawa say the clean-up from the storm could take several days.
Utility teams are working to make sure power is off as drivers remain in their vehicles after a storm knocked down Merivale Road poles and power lines in Ottawa on Saturday. (Justin Tang / Canadian Press)
Trees and power lines were blown down by fierce winds in this part of the province. At one point, winds reached 132 km / h at Kitchener Airport.
As of early Sunday morning, about 269,000 Hydro One customers were without power, while Hydro Ottawa reported more than 700 outages affecting more than 170,000 customers.
“The situation is complicated by major damage to our city’s infrastructure, both transmission and distribution systems, and we are currently unable to provide estimated recovery times,” Hydro Ottawa said in an update Sunday morning.
“The crews worked at night and will continue to do so in the coming days. At the moment, we believe that this will be a multi-day recovery effort. Initially, the power supply will be restored with major outages, followed by smaller ones, while maintaining safety as the number one priority. “
Hydro One is the largest supplier of electricity in Ontario and supplies power to Toronto Hydro, which tweeted Sunday morning that it continues to deal with “multiple outages in the city.”
WATCH Heavy thunderstorms hit southern Ontario:
Heavy thunderstorms hit southern Ontario
Several towns and villages were warned of a thunderstorm on Saturday as areas such as Kitchener, Ont., Saw heavy rain and strong winds.
Customers heading to the Toronto Hydro website were unable to get an update on which areas are still affected by the late Sunday morning outages.
“We are working to restore our interruption card and appreciate your continued patience,” the website’s help program said.
A spokesman said about 15,000 customers were still without electricity, compared to 110,000 who lost electricity during the storm.
As of early Sunday morning, more than 400,000 Hydro-Québec customers were still without electricity. At its peak, the storm brought out the lights for more than 510,000 customers, Crown Corporation said. Most of the power outages were in Quebec City, Utah, Lorentians, Lanodier and Monterey.
A spokesman for Hydro-Québec said most people should have power later on Sunday, starting with those in the worst-hit regions.
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