The aftermath of Montreal's storm: floods, fallen branches and power outages

After a severe thunderstorm, Quebecers are still recovering from floods, power outages and fallen trees.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) said the storm front that hit the Montreal area on Thursday afternoon caused two tornadoes to touch down — one in Ottawa and one in Mirabel, Que. — as torrential rains fell and strong winds blew.

Though the tornado in Ottawa damaged 125 homes, Mirabel was left without damage.

In Montreal, about 88 millimeters of rain fell in two hours and winds as high as 98 kilometres per hour blew — breaking trees and damaging Hydro-Québec equipment.

Over 200,000 Hydro-Québec customers were still without power as of 7 a.m. Friday, including a trade school, the Gordon Robertson Beauty Academy, in Beaconsfield, Que., which had to close for the day.

In the hours leading up to the storm, half a million Hydro-Québec customers across the province lost power as forest fires in the James Bay region triggered grid protection mechanisms. Just as power was beginning to be restored, the numbers shot up again as the storm swept through.

Hydro-Québec says it can't give an estimate of when everyone's power will be restored until the damage to its infrastructure is assessed.

"We had a severe storm yesterday across the province and we are seeing on the ground that some of our poles are broken, some conductors and cables are on the ground, some trees and branches have fallen on our equipment. These are all challenges our team will face," said Hydro-Québec spokesperson Caroline Des Rosiers.

Images shared on social media showed flooded basements, malls and metro stations. Though six underpasses had to close due to flooding Thursday evening, all have reopened, said city spokesperson Philippe Sabourin. Firefighters were deployed to help pump water out of buildings.

Sabourin said the city typically gets 90 millimetres of rain in July — meaning Montreal received almost as much rain it usually sees in July in the span of two hours. The city's sewers simply don't have the capacity to hold that much water, he said, explaining the floods. The city's centre was most affected.

The city received over 300 calls related to fallen branches and blue collar workers will be on cleanup duty Friday, said Sabourin.

"We have enough manpower today, it's nothing compared to the ice storm we saw in April," he said.

The city of Montreal will hold a news conference to give an update on the situation at 10 a.m.

In Quebec City, the Festival d'été du Québec had to pull the plug on its headliner — Les Cowboys Fringants — and evacuate the grounds for the second time this week due to weather.