Power knocked out for thousands as spring storm rolls through Quebec

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Hydro-Qubec officials saidtheir teams are working hard to restore power tocustomers aftera spring storm bringing heavy, wet snow sweptthrough Quebec.

Around 600,000 customers were affected at one point or another since Wednesday evening, when strong winds started gusting and heavy snow began accumulating on tree branches,causing them to hit power lines, said Hydro-Qubec spokesperson Cendrix Bouchardat an afternoon news conference.

"We're doing our best in order to have them back on the grid as quickly as possible. It is likely though, that some people will haveto wait until tomorrow in order to have power restored," saidBouchard.

The most affected regions werethe Laurentians followed by Montreal and the Montrgie region.

Thousands of people in the Outaouais, Laval, Lanaudireand the Eastern Townships also lostpower.

Bouchardsaid 1,200 Hydro-Qubec employees were on the ground working to get people back on the grid.

Hereminded people to keep a safe distance, about 10 metres, from downed power lines and poles.

School closures

All schools under theEnglish Montreal School Board, theLester B. Pearson School Board and the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board were closed due to a mixture of snow and power outages.

Around a dozen schools withMontreal's French school service centre, the Centre de services scolaire de Montral (CSSDM) were also closed, as well as some underthe Riverside School Board in Longueuil, due to power outages.

WATCH| Time-lapse video of snow in Montreal:

See Montreal get slapped with a spring snow storm

5 months ago

Duration 0:21

April usually brings showers, but wet snow swept across Quebec Wednesday into Thursday. More than 25 centimetres fell in downtown Montreal.

The storm wasthe result of a clash of two weather systems, one from Colorado and another from the East Coast.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) hadissued a snowfall warning Wednesday morning for Montreal, sayingtotal snowfall accumulations of 15 to 20 centimetres were expected until Thursday evening.

Montreal city spokesperson Phillipe Sabourinsaidsnow removal operators have been working during the night and Thursday to clear the roads.

Butas many motorists have already removed their snow tires, he urged people to "take public transit or stay home."

Sabourin said the city will not launch a snow removal operation as the snow is expected to melt over the weekend when temperatures climb.

ECCC warned thatrapidly accumulating snow could make travel difficult in some locations, adding that visibility may be suddenly reduced at times.