Power outages disrupted the plans of thousands of Quebecers on New Year’s Eve, forcing many businesses to close their doors earlier than expected.
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“We have candles, ready meals and board games for tonight. But we don’t really have a plan B for tomorrow,” says Elina Perron.
His family was reluctant to go to his cabin near Lake Massawippi in Estrie because of the road conditions. Eventually the drive from Montreal went well, but when he arrived the chalet was plunged in darkness.
The young woman hopes the power will return for the slow-cooker meal planned for New Year’s Eve, which will be attended by family members from the region but also from the US.
At Saint-Benoît-Labre, in Beauce, the vast majority of the village was without electricity.
“The only gas station didn’t have a generator,” says Marie-Christine Roy, who had to wait an hour and a half before a wedding in Beauceville for her husband to bring gas cans back from the neighboring village.
When he got to the hotel, there was no electricity.
Stores closed
Plunged into darkness, many businesses had to bring their closures forward by a day, such as the Barry restaurant in Bedford in the Eastern Townships.
“The power was supposed to come back at 11:45 a.m., but it finally got to 7:00 p.m. We can’t keep the fans running and it’s dark, so we’ve decided to close,” explains the owner of the canteen, Stéphanie Barry.
The community’s Proxim pharmacy was also forced to close for the day, asking its customers to have their prescriptions written over the phone.
DIY stores, clinics and car dealerships announced their closure in the affected regions.
Thousands of homes affected
At least 339,000 Hydro Quebec customers were without power as of 3:30 p.m.
The Capitale-Nationale, Montérégie and Montreal regions were hardest hit, while new outages hit hundreds of households in the Chaudière-Appalaches (2,483 customers), Centre-du-Québec (1,672 customers) and Estrie (11,033 customers) regions.
“There are people in more remote areas who will be without power for a while. I can’t say how many hours,” warned Francis Labbé, spokesman for the state-owned company.
Almost 1,000 workers were mobilized to restore power, some giving up furloughs.
In some regions, failures lasting for days cannot be ruled out. Hydro-Québec recommends preparing for this eventuality with a flashlight, rechargeable portable batteries, and blankets.
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