There were still 10,000 Hydro-Québec customers who did not power Tuesday morning, the day after the passing of a weather system which was accompanied by heavy rain, violent winds, thunderstorms and even of a possible tornado.
Around 6 a.m., the state-owned company reported that 10,582 of its subscribers were affected by the 258 outages in progress. The regions most affected were the Laurentides, Lanaudière, Estrie and Bas-Saint-Laurent.
Tornado reported north of Rigaud, Quebec at 5:40pm EST on the A-40. Report from Louise Power and Chantal MacKinnon. No damage reported. #qcstorm #onstorm
Believe it was somewhere in the circled area. pic.twitter.com/Sb2F78mgEC
— Connor Mockett (@ConnorMockettWX) May 27, 2024
At the height of the event, Monday evening, more than 70,000 Hydro-Québec customers were out of service due to the storms. The state-owned company deployed more than 200 teams on the ground to restore power “as quickly as possible.”
Monday’s meteorological phenomenon was, however, marked by the passage of a possible tornado which caused material damage near Rigaud, in Montérégie.
In images that have circulated on social media, we can clearly see a rotating column moving.
Julie Lemieux, the mayor of Très-Saint-Rédempteur, about eight kilometres southwest of Rigaud, said in a Facebook post that an apparent tornado had toppled trees and knocked out power in the area and Hydro-Québec crews were working to restore it.
The mayor advised residents to remain careful as another storm cell was expected to pass through the region later Monday night.
Asked about this Monday evening, Environment Canada meteorologist Jean-Philippe Bégin clarified that it was too early to confirm the event beyond any doubt, but he added that his team had been able to confirm that these images were indeed taken in this sector, and that “everything points to a tornado.”
Begin said May is the beginning of severe weather season in Quebec, with July seeing the most action.
“The busiest months are ahead of us, so June, July, August and September are busier months than May. So it’s only the beginning,” he said.
A team of researchers from the Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University in Ontario will travel to the site on Tuesday to investigate this event. On the social network X — formerly known as Twitter — The Northern Tornadoes Project indicated that based on video images, photos and radar data, everything suggests that a tornado occurred near Rigaud around 5:45 p.m.
Based on video, photos and radar, a tornado occurred near Rigaud, QC near 5:45 PM EDT. There are reports of damage to the SW of Rigaud approaching the ON border. An NTP damage survey team will begin an investigation tomorrow. Please tag @NTP_Reports with additional info. #meteoQC pic.twitter.com/94RM5EercF
— Northern Tornadoes Project ???????? (@westernuNTP) May 28, 2024
According to the acting director of the Rigaud Fire Department, Guillaume Roy, four houses were damaged, including one which had its roof torn off. Two barns and two grain silos were also damaged.
In one of these facilities, Roy noted that a garage containing chickens has disappeared.
He said Monday evening that fortunately no one was injured.
On its Facebook page, the municipality of Très-Saint-Rédempteur, near Rigaud, added that a residence and agricultural buildings were damaged by the tornado.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews