Millions of people in Canada are without electricity

Hundreds of thousands of homes are still without power in eastern Canada two days after a blizzard. The blizzard has so far killed three people and caused extensive damage, particularly in Montreal, AFP reported. According to a report by the news agency AFP, about 1.1 million homes in Quebec were without power after the storm, but on Friday it was reduced to about 400,000.

Hydro-Québec, Quebec's electricity provider, said power has been restored to more than 50 percent of customers affected by the outage. The utility company also said, "Our teams are working hard and we are confident that two lakh more customers will have power restored by the end of the day.

Hydro-Québec spokesperson Regis Tellier said some homes will remain without power until Sunday and some until Monday. But favorable weather conditions will speed up the recovery. A third person died about 40 kilometers northwest of Montreal, Quebec Premier Francois Legault said. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning while using a portable generator at home.

Earlier on Wednesday, an Eastern Ontario resident died after being crushed by a tree. In addition, a 60-year-old resident of Quebec died early Thursday morning when a tree branch fell on him while clearing land. Almost half of the people without power live in Montreal. Six temporary emergency shelters have been opened there. Residents spend the night in these shelters. Quebec and Ontario, Canada's two most populous states, were hit hardest by the storm.

Health officials in Montreal have reported nearly 60 cases of carbon monoxide poisoning after families used indoor barbecues to keep warm. Hundreds of Montreal city workers were seen Friday cleaning up debris, particularly fallen branches and littered parks under the weight of snow.

Ice begins to melt at about one degree Celsius (33°F). But the trees are shaking in the wind. This has created the risk of more tree branches falling. Authorities are still advising people to stay away from power lines.