Tues. Jan. 20: Voluntary restrictions on business hours for downtown Montreal are lifted. However a four-hour blackout hits the still-fragile system, affecting 110,000 customers in the metro area. About 200,000 Quebec customers are still without power. Service is restored to 100,000 out of 118,000 customers in eastern Ontario.
Wed. Jan. 21: Approximately 12,000 customers in Boucherville, Quebec lose power after regaining service only days before. Soldiers begin leaving the province as part of a gradual withdrawal. Ottawa announces it will help compensate dairy farmers and businesses affected by damaged maple and fruit trees.
Thurs. Jan. 22: More than 400,000 Quebecers remain without power. Hydro-Québec concedes that it can’t make its January 25 deadline for getting all of its customers back on line. Ontario Hydro has restored power to over 110,000 of its customers in eastern Ontario – leaving about 8,125 without service.
Fri. Jan. 23: The Conference Board of Canada estimates the cost of the ice storm will be close to $1.6 billion. Ottawa creates a task force to deal with the city’s trees – more than 45,000 of which were damaged or destroyed by ice.
Sat. Jan. 24: Three roofs collapse in Montreal under the weight of ice and 20 centimetres of new snow, which fell through the night Friday.
Sun. Jan. 25: Crews restore power to a key sub-station that serves Quebec’s south shore. The utility says half of the 60,000 customers still without power – most in the Triangle of Darkness – will be hooked up within one week. About 1,500 customers are still without power in eastern Ontario.
Mon. Jan. 26: At least 60,000 Quebec customers representing 150,000 people are still without power. The Insurance Bureau of Canada reports that the 378,000 claims filed as of noon total $476 million.
Tues. Jan. 27: Over 220 lineman arrive from British Columbia and Manitoba to help rebuild Quebec’s power grid. Hydro-Québec announces that in just three weeks it has exhausted its normal five-year supply of materials. Ontario Hydro says damage suffered to its system totals at least $100 million and may double by the end of the crisis.
Wed. Jan. 28: Quebec’s Premier announces that an independent commission will be set up to examine the handling of the ice storm crisis. Hydro-Québec says it will be February 15 before power is fully restored in the province. Ontario Hydro announces that only ten year-round customers in eastern Ontario are without power. The utility says almost 85,000 insulators, 2,800 kilometres of wire and cable, 11,647 poles and 2,100 transformers were delivered to eastern Ontario in the days following the storm.
Thurs. Jan. 29: At least 45,000 Quebec customers in 213 municipalities are still without power and some who originally were told they’d have their power back by January 25 were told they may have to wait as long as February 15.
Fri. Jan. 30: Canada’s Minister of Defence says the military’s bill to help clean up Quebec and Ontario after the ice storm is $60 million. Power is fully restored in Ontario and the provincial government starts to hand out relief cheques to farmers – about $1,000 for every week the power was off for a total of about $10 million.
Sat. Jan. 31: Over 50 shelters remain in operation, housing 1,700 people per night.
Sun. Feb. 1: Hydro-Québec officials warn of more blackouts saying its hastily repaired distribution system is still fragile. Thousands of people on the south shore enter their fourth week without power.
Mon. Feb. 2: Hydro-Québec moves up its deadline for restoring power to all its customers from February 15 to February 8. Over 19,500 customers representing 65,000 people remain without electricity in the province.
Tues. Feb. 3: Officials from Emergency Preparedness Canada and Agriculture Canada tell a House of Commons agriculture committee that the country should re-examine everything from personal readiness and insurance to farming practices following the disaster. More than 36,000 farms were affected by the ice storm.
Wed. Feb. 4: Quebec’s Public Security Minister announces he will introduce new legislation March 10 obliging municipalities to adopt emergency contingency plans and keep them up-to-date. One municipality affected by the storm had a plan dated from 1980.
Thurs. Feb. 5: An estimated 1,900 Hydro-Québec customers – or about 4,800 people – are without electricity. The utility says all Quebecers should have power by February 6.
Fri. Feb. 6: With the exception of about 100 temporary customers (chalets, campgrounds and sugar shacks) power is fully restored in the province of Quebec.