On Jan. 4, 1998, southern Quebec and eastern Ontario were pelted with as much as 100 millimetres of freezing rain and ice pellets — an ice storm that lasted five days.At its peak, 3.5 million Quebecers — roughly half of our province’s population — and more than a million Ontarians, as well as thousands in New Brunswick, were left in the dark, many for several weeks.
I remember the entire ordeal only too well. My daughter was barely three months old. The same home where we will still reside in Côte Saint-Luc District 2 did maintain power. As a result, family members from all sides arrived to camp out on our floors and sofas.
It was something the likes of which I never thought I’d experience again. Well, I was wrong. On April 5, 2023 the unthinkable happened. More than a million households – half on the island of Montreal – lost power after freezing rain tore through the province, blacking out neighbourhoods and downing trees. In Côte Saint-Luc, 40 percent of homes have no power. As of this writing my home has Hydro service, which is very ironic given the fact we have been plagued by outages for years due to outdated equipment.
Last night as our family was preparing for the Passover Seder, I heard a huge cracking noise. I looked outside and my neighbour’s tree had fallen on the street. As I surveyed my own district this morning, some of the streets looked like warzones with so many other downed trees.
Our Public Works and Public Safety Departments have been hard at work from the get go.
Here is what our senior staff are telling us. The temperature is going to warm up significantly today. This means two things: the first is that much of this ice will melt by the end of the day, particularly on the trees. The biggest issue the island is having is downed trees and branches and the ripple effects of that. There are no high winds, which is extremely fortunate. Second, we are expecting a tiny bit of rain this morning, but it is supposed to be clear the rest of the day, a very big boon to Hydro crews working to re-establish power. We are told to expect that most power will be re-established on the island of Montreal within 24 hours.
In an ideal world, our Aquatic and Community Centre and gym would have served as an emergency refuge centre. However, it has no power either. We do have a generator, but it gives power only to priority sources, the lights and the heat, but not the pool. The gym lights are on at 50 percent. The generator has four days worth of power. There are no phones working because of our particular system in place, nor WiFi, so we can’t make or answer phone calls in the Parks and Recreation Department. People enrolled in programs are being called to tell them they are cancelled, only because an employee is able to do this from home. Not all ACC plugs are working to charge devices.
The ACC is open to resident walk ins to use the facility washrooms and lobby or gym to recharge any electric devices. The holiday hours will be respected until 8 pm tonight. No programs are being offered and the pool is closed. Registration began earlier this week and will be postponed for the time being. Our Information Technology team is on scene to work on restoring internet and phone services.
The library will be open as usual today with regular hours until 10 pm, so residents looking for a warm place to access and charge their devices and can go there. The holiday hours only start on Friday (Noon to 5 pm) , and we are optimistic that power will be re-established by then. I would also recommend you consider our three local shopping centres -Quartier Cavendish, Côte St. Luc and Décor Decarie (no power I just learned)- if they maintain or have power, as well as restaurants and cafés in the immediate area. As for food keep in mind that a full freezer will keep food frozen for about 48 hours. A freezer that is half full will keep food frozen for about 24 hours. An unopened refrigerator will keep food cold for about four hours. I feel horrible for anyone impacted by this natural disaster. So many Passover Seders have been placed in jeopardy or already been spoiled. How many people cooked for weeks to prepare for this holiday?
Last night there were hundreds of issues from fallen trees, wires, power outages and live wires creating numerous hazardous areas. Public Works prioritized its tasks by clearing emergencies like trees where they could safely, away from live wires and off the streets, install cones to create safe passageways for cars and assisting where accidents of fallen trees occurred on private vehicles and properties. Staff remained on the clock late into the night with our emergency teams and until our foremen felt the streets were safe. They worked exceedingly hard in this freezing rain and cold weather. These individuals are proud to do the work they were trained for.
Here is the latest press release from Hydro.
More than a million customers were down this morning at 7:30 a.m. for a total of 2,000 outages. Our teams must therefore intervene in more than 2,000 locations, which represents a colossal work.
Although the efforts made are important, the weather event is not over and new outages are still occurring.
This morning, Hydro-Québec can count on a great strike force. In total, 1,000workers are mobilized on the ground to restore power. Over the past night, field teams have been busy dealing withthe most urgent cases.
Due to the high number of outages and affected customers, it is too early to determine the average time to restore service by sector. We are focusing our efforts on restoring the highest priority cases (emergency). Recovery for all commercial and residential customers could take several days.Recovery times indicated on Outages or through our mobile application are removed for the time being. The expected recovery time for an outage will be recorded when a team is on site. If your outage is not on the fault map, report it online or by phone at 1-800-790-2424.
Understand priorities and steps for restoring service:http://pannes.hydroquebec.com/pannes/comprendre-et-prevenir/ We remind you that a reserved number is available for municipal emergency measures coordinators. It allows you to reach a member of the Community Relations team, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: 1 844 289-5005, choose option 1, then option 1.
Also, to facilitate the work of our fitters, we ask you to clear the roads of broken branches.
Thank you for your patience.
Bonjour,
Plus d’un million de clients étaient en panne ce matin à 7 h 30 pour un total de 2 000 pannes. Nos équipes doivent donc intervenir à plus de 2 000 endroits, ce qui représente un travail colossal.Bien que les efforts déployés sont importants, l’événement météo n’est pas terminé et de nouvelles pannes se déclenchent encore.
Ce matin, Hydro-Québec peut compter sur une grande force de frappe. Au total, 1 000 travailleurs sont mobilisés au terrain afin de rétablir le courant. Au cours de la nuit dernière, les équipes au terrain se sont affairées à traiter les cas les plus urgents.
En raison du nombre élevé de pannes et de clients touchés, il est trop tôt pour établir le délai moyen de rétablissement du service par secteur. Nous concentrons nos efforts à rétablir les cas les plus prioritaires (urgence). Le rétablissement de l’ensemble des clients commerciaux et résidentiels pourrait nécessiter plusieurs jours.Les délais de rétablissement indiqués sur Info-pannes ou au moyen de notre application mobile sont retirés pour l’instant. L’heure prévue de rétablissement pour une panne sera inscrite lorsqu’une équipe sera sur les lieux. Si votre panne ne figure pas sur la carte des pannes, signalez‑la en ligne ou par téléphone au 1 800 790‑2424.
Comprendre les priorités et les étapes du rétablissement du service : http://pannes.hydroquebec.com/pannes/comprendre-et-prevenir/ Nous vous rappelons qu’un numéro réservé est disponible pour les coordonnateurs des mesures d’urgence des municipalités. Il vous permet de joindre un membre de l’équipe Relations avec le milieu, 24 heures sur 24, 7 jours sur 7 : 1 844 289-5005, choisir l’option 1, puis l’option 1.
Également, pour faciliter le travail de nos monteurs, nous vous demandons de dégager les routes des branches cassées.
