We have been lucky so far this winter, as our temperatures have been mild. However, on Friday and Saturday, the temperatures really plunged into a deep freeze. On Friday morning, the temperature was -29 degrees Celsius and -45 degrees Celsius with the windchill. These very cold temperatures occurred at the same time as Quebec Hydro went off line on Saturday morning at approximately 8:05 a.m. Our service was not restored in the village and outlying areas until approximately 2 p.m. It went off a few times later and then it was fully restored.
Of course, the big issue was heating your home. Some residents were able to use wood burning stoves, pellet stoves or furnaces to generate a limited supply of heat but without electricity to operate the fan, it was necessary to keep the fire small to avoid overheating.
At the same time, our newly installed fiber optic internet services failed. Not only the internet failed but also our land line telephones that now operate on the fiber optic system also failed. Therefore, Waltham residents and many of our neighbouring municipalities, found themselves without heat, hydro and any form of communications. Waltham also has no cell service, therefore, short of smoke signals, there is no way to call for help or even get basic information about the dangerous situation that we had just entered.
Some residents, having experienced many hydro outages in the past, have purchased backup generators, however with a wind chill of -45 degrees Celsius most of those generators would not start. According to local sources, some of our neighbouring municipal residents were still without hydro on Sunday morning. Let’s hope that our various levels of government can get together and devise a plan to remedy this weakness in our supply of hydro electric energy that we all depend on for our survival.
Belated birthday wishes are extended to Gail Romain McDonald who celebrated her birthday on Feb. 4. We hope that you enjoyed your special day Gail.
Birthday wishes and love are extended to Sally Romain who is celebrating a birthday, on Feb. 9. We hope that you are spoiled on your special day.
Brenda and Ian Rehel are celebrating their anniversary on Valentine’s Day. We hope that you have a romantic day.
Happy Valentine’s Day, I hope that everyone enjoys some special time with their sweetie.
