– 150,000 customers without electricity in and around Montreal (Ice Age Now, Jan 4, 2015):
Quebec’s icy weather continues into night as temperatures plummet.
More than 150,000 Hydro-Québec customers were without electricity this afternoon in and around Montreal after freezing rain encased southern Quebec in ice.
The blackouts are widespread across Montreal, the Montérégie (South Shore and areas west of the island of Montreal), the Richelieu Valley and elsewhere in southern Quebec.
Montreal spokesman Jacques Alain Lavallée said 1,000 pieces of snow-removal equipment and 1,000 city workers driving them are out in full force, trying to clear roads and sidewalks and lay down abrasives.
He said the city expects the entire clean-up operation related to this weekend’s storm will cost $20 million.
Freezing rain on top of 20 cm (8 inches) of snow created treacherous road conditions in much of Quebec.
http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/canada/topstories/quebec-s-icy-weather-continues-into-night-as-temperatures-plummet-1.2889257
Thanks to Cameron Dale for this link“Isn’t it ironic that with all the technology of the 21st century at their disposal, that these 150 thousand customers in a 1st world nation have to endure in the short term, a pre industrial revolution winter!” says Cameron.