Trailers flipped over in Lanaudière as fierce storm knocks out power across southern Quebec
Unconfirmed reports of tornado ripping through Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan, north of Montreal
An intense storm rolled across southern Quebec Thursday evening, knocking out power, disrupting flights and causing a possible tornado north of Montreal that flipped two trailers and left at least one person injured.
The heavy winds brought down trees in Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood and elsewhere, and there are unconfirmed reports of a tornado in Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan, about 50 kilometres north of Montreal in Lanaudière.
A woman who identified herself as the mother of the owner of Camping Horizon, a campground in the town, said two trailers were flipped over by heavy winds. Provincial police said one man was hurt in that incident, but his injuries are not life-threatening. All of the town's volunteer firefighters were called to the campground.
Hydro-Québec outages reached a peak around 7 p.m. The utility said 105,890 customers were without power at that time — among those, 34,861 in Montérégie, 20,297 in Lanaudière, 17,297 in Montreal, 14,255 in Laval and 15,592 in the Outaouais region. The number was down to 79,968 at 10 p.m.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport said a lightning alert had disrupted flight schedules, ground operations and baggage delivery.
Arrival and departure schedules showed significant delays and cancellations across the board.
Transports Québec reported water accumulations but no closures. Provincial police said there were a number of accidents caused by cars hydroplaning, but they said no serious injuries had been reported.