Hundreds remain in the dark, one day after latest Ottawa-Gatineau storm
Severe thunderstorm warning issued by Environment Canada Friday
Hundreds of customers are still without power in both Ottawa and Gatineau, Que., after a severe thunderstorm on Friday.
As of late Saturday afternoon, Hydro Ottawa's outage map was showing about 400 customers in the dark in various neighbourhoods across the city.
Another 2,000 or so Hydro-Québec customers were without electricity in Gatineau's Aylmer sector.
Environment Canada issued a tornado warning for the region Friday evening, after a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a twister was located near Arnprior, Ont., moving southeast at 60 km/h.
In a statement early Saturday morning, Hydro Ottawa said they had restored power to approximately 9,000 customers, but it could be several days before everyone had their lights back on.
'Multi-day restoration situation'
"While the worst of the weather has passed, and several customers have been restored, Hydro Ottawa advises that this is a multi-day restoration situation due to the extent of the damage from downed power lines and trees," the utility said.
Repairs that pose serious safety hazards will be prioritized, Hydro Ottawa said, as well as restoring power to emergency services, hospitals, water and sewage treatment plants and other critical infrastructure.
The outages come as hundreds of Hydro Ottawa employees have been on strike for just over a month.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, the union representing close to 400 utility workers said Hydro Ottawa should invest in its infrastructure and its employees.
"It's hard for employees to not be there to help the community. This should not be a multi-day outage," the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 636 said in a tweet.
2 weeks after tornadoes hit
In the Outaouais region, which was hit particularly hard, there were 21 Hydro-Québec teams on the ground working to restore power, said Julie Ouellet, the utility's community relations advisor.
Ouellet said teams have already removed many of the trees that fell on power lines.
Most customers should have their power restored by Saturday evening, she said.
Friday's violent weather came roughly two weeks after a pair of tornadoes touched down in south Ottawa, damaging roughly 125 homes in the city's Barrhaven suburb.
"I feel I'm more nervous than I used to be," said Mary Ann Bradley, who arrived home Friday to find a large tree had toppled onto a car on her street.
She also met the driver — who was inside when it happened.
"Weather's changing, and we're gonna get more of this dramatic type of weather," Bradley said Saturday. "And we might as well expect it and get prepared for it."
With files from Safiyah Marhnouj and Natalia Goodwin