The freezing rain that fell across southwestern Quebec and eastern Ontario on Wednesday plunged nearly a million homes into darkness and caused widespread damage.

Surfaces such as streets, sidewalks and parking lots quickly became icy, slippery and dangerous.

The Ministry of Transport emphasized that the roadway poses a danger in certain places and could complicate road conditions. He recommended exercising caution and avoiding travel.

As of Wednesday evening, around a million households – mostly in Quebec, but also in Ontario – were without power. As of 9:15 p.m., 952,346 Hydro-Québec customers were still in the dark.

In total, 20 to 25 millimeters of freezing rain fell on Gatineau, slightly more than Montreal, where it was 15 to 25 mmaccording to preliminary data from Environment Canada.

This is disproportionate to the 1998 ice crisis, when affected sectors suffered an average of 78 mm.

The accumulating ice broke tree branches and caused power outages, the government agency warned on its website.

Hydro-Québec technicians on site

A crisis unit has been set up at Hydro-Québec, spokeswoman Caroline Desrosiers said in an interview with ICI RDI.

Meteorologists from Hydro-Québec have been monitoring the situation for several days, which allowed the state-owned company to deploy technical teams in the various affected regions starting Tuesday, Ms. Desrosiers explained.

The shifts of our linemen today [n’ont pas pris fin] at 5pm like a normal day, but at 11pm, so we go into an emergency response approach.

Hydro-Québec also reminds citizens to keep their distance if they observe dangerous situations such as wires, poles or other equipment on the ground. It’s best to report it to 911 and teams will be dispatched to secure the scene.

Two Montreal school boards are at a standstill Thursday

In addition, the school service centers of Montreal (CSSDM) and Pointe-de-l’Île (CSSPI) announced that all their educational institutions, their daycare centers and their administrative centers will remain closed on Thursday due to power outages and the uncertainty regarding the restoration of power.

No courses or distance learning courses are planned for all primary, secondary and adult students.adds the press release from CSSDM.

The icy weather also affected flights at Montreal airport. According to communications consultant Eric Forest, no fewer than 112 flights – 51 arriving and 61 departing – were canceled today out of a total of 485 scheduled flights (or 23%). He states that these are domestic and cross-border flights.

Aéroports de Montréal always recommends travelers check their flight schedules with their airline before traveling to the airport, regardless of applicable conditions. This advice is even more important in times like the one we are experiencing today.he added.

Weather conditions also forced the closure of Victoria Bridge in both directions.

A system that comes “from very far away”.

The system [arrive] From a long distance it goes from Lake Superior up towards James Baysaid André Quentin, meteorologist at Environment Canada, in an interview with ICI RDI.

The warm front that precedes it turns into precipitation and ultimately into freezing rain, the expert summarizes.

In addition, there are northeast winds that reach 30 to 60 km/h. However, by the end of the evening the wind should ease slightly before turning to the southwesthe added.

There were also freezing rain warnings in several regions of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Environment Canada is predicting a significant increase in temperatures for Thursday.

With information from The Canadian Press