MASSIVE WIND STORM OF 130 KM/H ISOLATES QUEBEC ISLANDS

A Canadian Forces plane will be sent Friday to provide relief to residents of the Iles-de-laMadeleine who have been effectively cut off from the rest of Quebec after a massive wind storm hit Wednesday. Residents of the islands are able to call each other, but not the mainland because two underwater cables were damaged by rough seas and winds of up to 130 km/h. The only working phone is a satellite phone at the Quebec provincial police detachment. No boats are able to reach land before Friday, and the airport is closed because communications in the control tower have been knocked out. Public Security Minister Geneviève Guilbault, pictured, said Thursday the emergency was beyond the provincial government’s capacity to respond so it was necessary to turn to Ottawa.