1 missing in Quebec as Irene batters Eastern Canada created, morning, police, without, person

tiffiant

1 missing in Quebec as Irene batters Eastern Canada



Strong winds were battering parts of Quebec and the Atlantic provinces Monday morning, as post-tropical storm Irene made its way over Eastern Canada, drenching cities, grounding flights and leaving more than 200,000 people without power.


In Quebec, one person was missing in Yamaska, about 105 kilometres northeast of Montreal, after two cars plunged into a crevasse that was created when a road washed out Monday morning, provincial police Sgt. Benoit Richard said.


The other occupants of the cars were recovered safely, Richard said. He did not have any details about the missing person.


The violent storm, which claimed 20 lives in the U.S. over the weekend and caused about $7 billion in damages, was drenching Quebec on Monday morning, said Chris Fogarty, manager of the Canadian Hurricane Centre.


"It looks like Eastern townships and areas of Quebec got the most rainfall. There were a number of stations that had 100 millimetres of rain or more overnight," he said.


"It's pretty significant, especially when you see the scary degree of flooding in (the U.S.)," he said.


Quebec's power utility said Monday that about 215,000 residents remained without power — in Montreal's South Shore, where about 70,000 people were affected, in the Eastern Townships, and a large area around Quebec City.


Nearly 32,000 people were without electricity in New Brunswick, according to an update from that province's power utility. About 13,500 of those customers were in Fredericton.


Hydro-Quebec spokesman Louis-Olivier Batty said he couldn't give an estimate as to when power would be restored, other than to promise it would be as soon as possible.


He said hundreds of crews around the province were out working to restore service.

tiffiant

"We have a lot work to do and we still have some branches or fallen trees we have to cut," he said.


Flights to Quebec City, most Atlantic airports, as well as Massachusetts, New York and Washington could all face delays or cancellations because of the storm, Air Canada warned Monday.


Wind warnings remained in effect for mainland Nova Scotia, most of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and portions of southern Quebec.


Rainfall warnings were also still in place for most of southern and eastern Quebec, where "higher than normal" water levels and "heavy pounding" rains were anticipated as Irene transitioned from a tropical hurricane into a chaotic storm gusting at 95 km/h.


About 107 mm drenched Sherbrooke, Que., while Montreal received 68 mm of rainfall from Irene, Environment Canada noted.


Ile d'Orleans, Que., about 300 kilometres northeast of Quebec, was struck by winds gusting at 113 km/h. Fogarty said Sunday's conditions were an anomaly, even for an area already "notorious" for its volatile winds.


Fogarty said the Hurricane Centre was still collecting data and that several more regions faced extreme rainfall.

tiffiant

Winds will gust as high as 100 km/h in parts of Nova Scotia, Fogarty warned.


In Fredericton, 83 mm fell over the region, paired with strong winds gusting at 78 km/h.


About 20 mm of rain hit Moncton, N.B., with Saint John, N.B., receiving a little less — 13 mm overnight.


The storm will continue on its tear through Eastern Canada but will hit a lull as it shifts into Newfoundland and Labrador, Fogarty predicted. The province should expect strong winds and rain as the storm dissipates, he said.


"(The storm) wasn't as bad as Hurricane Earl last year, but for Quebec, it was pretty strong winds and rainfall, and I'm sure that caused some issues," Fogarty said.


Heavy winds sent windows crashing from a Montreal downtown office building Sunday. No one was hurt by the enormous glass projectiles, largely because so many people had taken shelter from the elements, police said.


"We were very lucky," Police Const. Olivier Lapointe said.


Montreal's public security minister, Robert Dutil, said it could be two days before the full extent of the damage was known.

tiffiant

A pedestrian walks past a fallen tree on Grey Ave. in Montreal on Sunday. The tree fell during heavy wind caused by the tail end of Tropical Storm Irene.



A Brooklyn man crosses a flooded street in the Red Hook neighbourhood on his bicycle Sunday after Tropical Storm Irene swept through New York City.