Tashi Farmilo
Published online March 25, 2026, at www.pontiacjournal.com.
MRC PONTIAC – A freezing rain storm swept through the Pontiac March 11, leaving about 800 homes without power and forcing several public services to close.
Schools had already been cancelled the day before the storm, with closures announced on Facebook due to transportation concerns and parents were informed via e-mail. The Otter Lake CLSC and Dr. Wilbert Keon School in Chapeau were among the services that remained closed March 12 as outages persisted.
The municipality of Mansfield-et-Pontefract lost power around 11 am March 11. The situation was complicated by the fact that the municipal office is temporarily housed at the Bryson House, which does not have a backup generator. Some sectors had power restored by late afternoon.
“By six o’clock, everybody was back on,” said Mayor Sandra Armstrong.
Road crews were deployed throughout the storm. Armstrong praised municipal workers for their response despite difficult conditions.
“We have a big territory, so it does take time, but I know they did a really good job on the road maintenance,” she said.
No major accidents or injuries were reported. A few falling branches sparked small fires, and firefighters were dispatched to secure the sites.
Armstrong noted that rural residents face challenges during outages that city dwellers rarely encounter. Many Pontiac homes rely on well water, which requires an electric pump to function.
“If you don’t have hydro, the pump won’t work, so you don’t have water,” she said. “When you live in the city and there’s no hydro, you still get water, but in a rural area, it doesn’t work like that.”
In a Facebook post March 11, MRC Pontiac Warden Jane Toller said she had met virtually with Hydro-Québec the day before the storm. She wrote that the utility had 30 teams available across the Outaouais, with three to five teams ready to respond from Campbell’s Bay. By March 12, 17 Hydro-Québec crews were working in the Pontiac. Hydro-Québec spokesperson Marie-Annick Gariépy said power was expected to be restored for most residents by midnight March 12, though she cautioned that complex cases or new outages caused by gusty winds could push some repairs into March 13.
Residents without power were directed to warming centres in their area. The Municipality of Mansfield opened the Bryson House at 314 route 148, while Pontiac Ouest residents were welcomed at the municipal office at 75 rue Notre-Dame and at St-Joseph Hall at 6 rue St-Joseph in L’Isle-aux-Allumettes.
Armstrong said Hydro-Québec had carried out significant tree-trimming and line maintenance along local corridors in the spring and summer of 2025, which she believes helped limit the damage.
“They cut trees, they cut branches, and they cleared along all the lines,” she said. “It did help.”
She added that an unusually dry summer had left many trees weakened, making them more vulnerable even during a moderate ice event.
“I think we were lucky we didn’t get what they were saying we would get,” she said. Looking ahead, Toller said Hydro-Québec planned to install 12 cellular relay boxes on hydro poles beginning March 23, over a 12-day period, to address dead zones during outages and improve communication in remote areas. The council of mayors is also scheduled to receive a briefing from Hydro-Québec April 8 regarding the utility’s dams.
Outages can be tracked in real time on the Hydro-Québec website.
