Freezing rain knocks out power to thousands in the Laurentians, Vaudreuil-Soulanges
Hydro-Québec says crews are on the ground working to restore service
The freezing rain that swept through part of the province has left thousands of residents across southern Quebec in the dark.
As of 11 p.m. Tuesday, Hydro-Québec said roughly 49,000 clients remained without power.
More than half of the outages are in the Laurentians. Residents in Mirabel, Thérèse-De Blainville, La Rivière-du-Nord and Argenteuil were hardest hit.
About 7,500 clients are also without power in Vaudreuil-Soulanges.
On Tuesday, Environment Canada issued a freezing rain warning for those regions. They said the freezing rain would turn into snow near midnight.
Trees coated with freezing rain began to sag or snap, taking out power lines, said Marie-Ève Sylvestre, a spokeswoman with Hydro-Québec.
She added that the areas touched by outages are densely forested.
Hydro-Québec teams are working to restore service and more crews are being dispatched to the affected areas. Power should be restored through the night, Sylvestre said.
The utility has a detailed map of areas without power.