Tens of thousands still without power after deadly storm in Ontario and Quebec

A major cleanup effort is underway following Saturday's fierce storm that left at least eight people dead and hundreds of thousands without power after it swept across southern Ontario and Quebec.

The storm damage has led the Ontario towns of Uxbridge, north of Toronto, and Clarence-Rockland, east of Ottawa, to declare states of emergency, while hundreds of thousands across Ontario and Quebec remain without power as crews work to restore services.

WATCH | Storm leaves extensive damage in its wake:

Thousands in Ottawa area without power after deadly storm

2 years ago

Duration 1:53

Hundreds of thousands of people in the Ottawa-Gatineau area are without power, following storms that left at least eight people dead in Ontario and Quebec.

A statement posted on the Township of Uxbridge's website says there are widespread power outages and many closed roads due to downed trees and power lines.

Residents are being asked to stay home to allow municipal workers to focus on removing road hazards rather than manage traffic congestion.

Hydro providers, meanwhile,are warning that it could take days for some customers to get their power back.

"Between trees, branches, broken poles and wires down, it's really a very, very messy, messy cleanup," Hydro One spokespersonTiziana Baccega Rosa said.

She said while it's not unusual to have such high numbers of customerstemporarily without power which for Hydro One stood at about 226,000 early Monday the extent of the damage, including the toppling of metal transmission towers in the Ottawa area, is notable.

200 poles destroyed in Ottawa area

The utility could not say when most issues were likely to be resolved, noting that 200 hydro poles had been knocked out or destroyed. Hydro Ottawa said 166,000 customers remained without power early Mondayand advised it could take days to restore service.

• Hydro One's outage map

Ottawa Fire Services said on Twitter that the city's fire, police and paramedics fielded about 3,000 911 calls between 4 a.m. Saturday and midnight; 2,000 of them came in the storm's first three hours.

Hydro-Qubec said that at the peak, the storm cut power to 550,000 customers from Gatineau to Quebec City, while as of about noon Sunday, there were some 370,000 customers still in the dark.Mostof the power outages wereinthe Quebec City,Outaouais, Laurentians,Lanaudireand Montrgieregions.

A Hydro-Qubec spokesperson said most people should have their power later Sunday, starting with those in the hardest-hit regions.

Destructive winds of a 'derecho'

The level of damage across the two provinces came in part from the nature of the storm, which looks to have been what is called a "derecho," said Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Gerald Cheng.

"When they say derecho, it's widespread, long-lived wind storms that are associated with rapidly moving thunderstorms, and that seems to be what we had yesterday," he said. "Because when you look at the damage, that was widespread, it wasn't just one track."

Hydro One, Ontario's largest service provider for electricity, supplies power to Toronto Hydro, which on Sunday morning tweetedthat itcontinues to deal with "multiple outages across the city."

Customers heading to Toronto Hydro's outage map on its website were unable to get an update for hours on what areas werestill affected. But the outage map was functioning again on Sunday afternoon.

WATCH |Severe thunderstorms hit southern Ontario:

Severe thunderstorms hit southern Ontario

2 years ago

Duration 0:30

Several cities and towns were under a thunderstorm warning on Saturday as areas such as Kitchener, Ont., saw heavy rain and high winds.

"We're working on restoring our outage map and appreciate your ongoing patience," the utility said on the website earlier in the day.

Weather alert system kicks in

The storm carried winds strong enough to trigger the agency's first use of the broadcast-interrupting weather alert system for a thunderstorm, Cheng said.

Trees and power lines were knocked down by ferocious winds in a system that first developed near Sarnia, Ont., and then moved east to the Ottawa area and Quebec.Environment Canada reported peak wind gusts of 120 km/h at the Ottawa International Airport.Atone point, winds reached 132 km/h at the airport in Kitchener, Ont.

The Ontario fatalities from the storm include a 44-year-old man in Greater Madawaska, west of Ottawa;a woman in her 70s out for a walk in Brampton; a 30-year-old man in the Ganaraska Forest, east of Oshawa, Ont.; anda 59-year-old man on a golf course in Ottawa. As well, one person was killed and two others were injured in their camping trailer near Pinehurst Lake in Brant County. All five people were killed after being struck bya falling tree.

At an emergency newsconference on Saturday night, the City ofOttawa's head of emergency services,Kim Ayotte, was surprisedby the storm's scope.

"This one hit us hard, it hit us fast.... I was out at the airport earlier and I saw telephone posts knocked down, large trees uprooted, several hydro lines being split in half. It was incredible. The sheer area that was affected is like nothing I've seen in my memory."

Officials in Ottawa say the cleanup from the storm could take several days.