People charge their phones at stations set up in the CF Fairview Mall on April 7 in Montreal, after freezing rain hit parts of Quebec and Ontario on April 5.ANDREJ IVANOV/AFP/Getty Images
Without power for much of the past four days, people in parts of Quebec and Ontario turned to each other for warmth and assistance after an ice storm left hundreds of thousands in the cold.
Natacha Dubey lives in a housing co-operative in Montreal’s Villeray neighbourhood. She said the building, like half of the city, lost power on Wednesday night and then a sump discharge caused significant water damage to the basement because the pumps were not working.
On Saturday morning, co-op members brought a hot plate outside and served coffee and hot chocolate to the residents. About 20 people came out to chat and enjoy a warm drink under a clear sky.
“It was simple to do, but so friendly and comforting,” Ms. Dubey said. The power returned on Saturday night, after three full days.
Hydro-Québec continued the process Sunday of restoring power in the wake of last week’s ice storm, but said some customers may not be back online until Tuesday. At least three people died in Ontario and Quebec in the aftermath of the storm.
About 85,000 customers were still without power on Sunday afternoon, down from a peak of more than 1.1 million on Thursday morning. Most of the remaining households were in Montreal.
Régis Tellier, Hydro-Québec’s vice-president of operations and maintenance, said in a news conference Sunday morning that the public utility company is expecting to restore power to virtually all customers by Monday night.
He said some households might remain in the dark longer, however, if their reconnection required complex repairs. More than 1,500 employees were at work in the field to bring back power on Sunday, Mr. Tellier said.
A Hydro Quebec crew works on a power line following an ice storm in Montreal, Friday, April 7, 2023.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
Maxime Nadeau, Hydro-Québec director of energy system control, would not say in the news conference if compensation would be provided to affected households.
Officials are also warning people not to use fuel-burning appliances inside after a number of reports of carbon-monoxide poisoning.
Montreal public health said Sunday that 180 cases of carbon-monoxide poisoning have been reported at emergency rooms in the city since Wednesday, including more than 50 reported since Saturday.
No deaths have been reported on the Island of Montreal, the agency said, adding that workers are going door to door in areas where electricity has not yet been restored to encourage people to be careful. A 75-year-old man was found dead Friday after running a generator in his garage in Saint-Joseph-du-Lac, Que.
In Ottawa, 40 members of the Or Haneshamah Reconstructionist Jewish congregation were about to spend the first night of Passover together at the synagogue when the lights went out.
A resident stands next to a fallen tree branch in front of a home on April 07, 2023, in Montreal, Canada after freezing rain hit parts of Quebec and Ontario on April 5.ANDREJ IVANOV/AFP/Getty Images
“We were sitting there with a lot of food and no light … but fortunately, since it was a house of worship, there were a lot of candles … we had lukewarm food and we had a wonderful time,” said Carolyn Whitzman, president of the congregation’s board.
“I think the last time was four years ago that we had this sort of communal meal together. So we all were looking forward to it a lot, and I guess we didn’t let the lack of power get in the way,” Ms. Whitzman said.
In Montreal neighbourhood groups, those who were fortunate enough to still have power invited others to come by.
“If you need to take a shower, it will be my pleasure to provide access to hot water. If you have meat that is still cold but has thawed, I will also be happy to keep it for you,” wrote Amina Khilaji in the Hochelaga MON Quartier group.
Several local businesses and organizations, spared by the outages, stepped up to help those in need. “If you feel cold, you need food, coffee and warmth from the community, come and we will be there for you,” wrote the Café latino communautaire on social media.
Mama Khan, a Pakistani restaurant in Montreal’s Plateau-Mont-Royal neighbourhood, had already been giving out free meals as part of Ramadan and began offering them to those without power Wednesday night.
With a report from The Canadian Press