Unusable toilets, broken generators, nights in the dark: the ordeal continued on Thursday for thousands of Quebecers without electricity who lived like in the soap opera for a week The countries above.
• Also read: Power outages: More than 10,000 customers still without electricity
• Also read: Denizens in the dark patiently face their worries
Completely exhausted, Murielle Grandmaison lives alone in her house on Chemin Vertmont in Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury. She’s been guarding the fort for seven days without a generator. The young grandmother heats her apartment with a wood stove, but she spends her evenings by candlelight.
“I’m fed up, I’m starting to get tired. Since the beginning, I have gone to the community center every day to fetch water and take a shower there,” says the woman who welcomed the arrival of her son and his small family for a few hours.
For someone who has lived in this area for 30 years, this is a historic meltdown.
“It’s the longest we’ve had here. Even the ice storm [en 1998]it wasn’t that bad for us,” she says.
A few doors down, Anne-Marie Foucault explains that the generator has just failed after six days of almost non-stop use. “We got propane delivered but the generator didn’t work. One moment is too much,” said the lady.
Christmas with strangers
Arriving at their new home in Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury on December 24th, Julie Savoie and Sylvain Pierre have had a rough time during their move.
“People always said to us: ‘You’re crazy if you move in the winter. We said to ourselves: ‘It’ll be fine’, but we didn’t come up with these conditions,” says the spouse of French origin.
The solidarity of the residents of Chemin Vertmont allowed the couple to wake up warm without a generator or wood heating, while neighbors Sarah Fortier and Vincent Bertrand became their new friends.
“We didn’t know them and they all had dinner with us, the couple and their two French friends. We had a fondue dinner,” says Ms. Fortier, who hadn’t expected to spend Christmas night with complete strangers.
Photo Louis Deschenes
Julie Savoie and Sylvain Pierre (centre) with their French friends Julie and Jean-Philippe.
Disturbing experience
Claude Vézina, who works as a supervisor and guide at Stoneham Community Center, has seen all the colors for a week. He even describes his experience as troubling because he hosted several citizens in need.
Elderly people, pregnant women, newcomers: the accommodation was an important help for these residents. “Phew! I’ve seen people who haven’t showered in a few days. Some are really tired, depressed and helpless,” confirms the man.
As of late Thursday evening, more than 2,400 customers were still without power.
Hydro’s management has been criticized
Manon Perron, a resident of Saint-Raymond in Portneuf, was without power for seven days and no longer believes any recovery forecasts issued by Quebecers’ “exemplary” electricity company.
“Hydro says the remaining breakdowns will require snowmobiles, tracked ATVs and snowshoes to get to homes and fix the network. nope! nope! nope! the rest of us is in a residential area. You don’t need snowshoes here, you give up,” says the mother out of patience.
The current no longer flows
Above all, the communication with Hydro-Quebec is to be lamented, according to the mayor of Saint-Raymond, Claude Duplain.
“We left on Friday morning [le 23 décembre]. At noon on Saturday we had no communication with Hydro-Quebec. There was a total blackout here. I had to make a phone call. And there they came at least to connect us to the multifunctional center so that we could receive the population. After a day and a half, people start to panic,” he explained to TVA Nouvelles.
Matane-Matapédia MP Pascal Bérubé, for his part, is surprised at the way Hydro-Québec and the government are managing the crisis.
He believes that Hydro-Québec President Sophie Brochu and the ministers concerned could have held a joint press conference to take stock of the situation.
“We don’t choose the moment when it happens. […] At the local level, I felt an obligation to come and reassure my people,” said the man, who ended his furlough to return to his constituency on Tuesday.
The four great electroless regions
national capital 929
Laurentians 443
north coast 432
Moritz 357
Source: Hydro-Québec, report at 10 p.m.
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