800,000 lose power as freezing rain hits Ontario and Quebec

By The Associated Press

Freezing rain and thunderstorms have pummeled parts of Ontario and Quebec, and officials say about 800,000 people are without power. Quebec’s power utility said Wednesday evening that more than 676,000 of its 4.5 million customers had no electricity as much of the province remained under a freezing rain warning. In Montreal, more than 316,000 customers have lost power, while 171,000 people were hit with outages in the Montérégie region, south of the city. Officials say many of the outages are small in area, each affecting only a few customers, so crews will need to repair numerous breaks to restore power to everyone.