(Quebec) The metropolis is “devastated”, launched Thursday the Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon, who gave an update with his colleague François Bonnardel on the ice storm which plunged more than a million homes into darkness. Prime Minister François Legault is on his way to Montreal.
“I think [the situation] is under control. It’s a crisis. Montreal is devastated, you have to be sensitive to that, ”said the Minister of Economy and Energy, also responsible for the metropolis, during a press briefing Thursday at the National Assembly. Pierre Fitzgibbon indicated that François Legault left Quebec for Montreal, where he will take stock with the Hydro-Quebec teams.
Mr. Fitzgibbon clarified that Wednesday’s bad weather did not cause any damage to the main electrical transmission network or to Hydro-Québec’s strategic assets. Another consolation: a quarter of outages affect 1,000 subscribers or more, so are highly concentrated, allowing the Crown corporation to focus its efforts on “strategic locations” in Greater Montreal.
According to Minister Fitzgibbon, a third of subscribers will be able to regain power within 24 hours.
Public Security Minister François Bonnardel said he was in communication with towns affected by the ice storm for the cleanup operation. He also called on the public to be careful, asking to avoid “camping at home”.
Two centers for disaster victims are open, in Cantley in Outaouais and in Laval. More could be added over the next few hours, according to Mr. Bonnardel.
The entire political class has offered its support to the victims and to the workers of Hydro-Québec who are hard at work to restore power.
“So the message to citizens: be careful. Be careful if you have to go out for your trips. Also be careful if there are any breaks, among other electrical wires, as Hydro-Québec said yesterday. Be extremely careful to keep a distance of three meters,” said Quebec Liberal Party interim leader Marc Tanguay.
“It’s not easy to be in the unknown like that, to be in the dark, especially when it’s still, say, late winter, early spring. So it has very concrete consequences on the world. And then, I think of the people who are affected this morning, “said the parliamentary leader of Quebec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, himself affected by the breakdown.
“Thousands of citizens of Camille-Laurin are affected by power outages due to freezing rain. In Montreal, [half] of households are affected. My team is in contact with [Hydro-Québec] and we are monitoring the situation closely. Let’s show civic sense and be kind to each other, ”wrote Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon on Twitter.
