<p>Freezing rain and thunderstorms pummeled parts of Ontario and Quebec on Wednesday, knocking out power for about 800,000 people, officials reported.</p>.<p>Quebec's power utility said shortly after 5 p.m. 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.</p>.<p>“What's causing the outages is the mixture of precipitation and wind,” Hydro-Québec spokeswoman Gabrielle Leblanc said. “It weighs down the vegetation. There can be branches and trees that fall on the lines.”</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/tornadoes-kill-at-least-26-across-us-midwest-and-south-1205782.html" target="_blank">Tornadoes kill at least 26 across US Midwest and South</a></strong></p>.<p>In Montreal, more than 316,000 customers had lost power, while 171,000 people were hit with outages in the Montérégie region, south of the city.</p>.<p>Leblanc said many of the outages were small in area, each affecting only a few customers, so crews would need to repair numerous breaks to restore power to everyone.</p>.<p>In Montreal, there were numerous reports of downed trees. Transport Quebec said weather conditions forced it to close the Victoria Bridge, which connects Montreal with its southern suburbs.</p>.<p>Public Security Minister François Bonnardel said his department has put a coordination centre in place to deal with the storm.</p>
<p>Freezing rain and thunderstorms pummeled parts of Ontario and Quebec on Wednesday, knocking out power for about 800,000 people, officials reported.</p>.<p>Quebec's power utility said shortly after 5 p.m. 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.</p>.<p>“What's causing the outages is the mixture of precipitation and wind,” Hydro-Québec spokeswoman Gabrielle Leblanc said. “It weighs down the vegetation. There can be branches and trees that fall on the lines.”</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/tornadoes-kill-at-least-26-across-us-midwest-and-south-1205782.html" target="_blank">Tornadoes kill at least 26 across US Midwest and South</a></strong></p>.<p>In Montreal, more than 316,000 customers had lost power, while 171,000 people were hit with outages in the Montérégie region, south of the city.</p>.<p>Leblanc said many of the outages were small in area, each affecting only a few customers, so crews would need to repair numerous breaks to restore power to everyone.</p>.<p>In Montreal, there were numerous reports of downed trees. Transport Quebec said weather conditions forced it to close the Victoria Bridge, which connects Montreal with its southern suburbs.</p>.<p>Public Security Minister François Bonnardel said his department has put a coordination centre in place to deal with the storm.</p>