Nearly 1 million homes without power after heavy storm lashes Canada

Monday, May 23, 2022

At least 7 dead and nearly 900,000 homes in southern Canada were left without power on Saturday after a severe storm hit the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Seven people were killed by falling trees and a woman died when a boat capsized in the Ottawa River.

The powerful wind gusts reached 82 mph (132km/h) during the storm, according to Environment Canada. The power company Hydro One, which covers Ontario, said it would take several days to reconnect every home.

Meanwhile, Hydro Quebec said 550,000 homes there lost power, with nearly 400,000 still suffering outages as of 10:00 local time (14:00 GMT) on Sunday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted on Sunday evening that the federal government was preparing to step in to help those affected.

Mr Trudeau said that the storms that swept across Ontario and Quebec yesterday caused serious damage, claimed several lives, and left many without power. They are  thinking of everyone affected, and thanking the crews who are working to restore power – we stand ready to provide federal support if needed.

The town of Uxbridge, about an hour north of Toronto, has declared a state of emergency after the storm left “significant damage in its wake”, a statement said. The powerful thunderstorm, which lasted more than two hours, felled many trees, disrupted traffic, damaged homes and saw emergency services inundated with calls for help.

The experts said the storm, which spanned across an area of around 621 miles (1,000km), was caused by a rare phenomenon called “derecho”.

Derenchos are caused when a fast moving group of thunderstorms band together and mostly occur during summer months.

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