Some stations in the Ottawa Gatineau area were damaged on Saturday; some of them are without power and others are out of service.

The destructive and deadly windstorm on Saturday made it difficult to get fuel in the Ottawa Gatineau area. Some gas stations were closed due to damage or power outages, while supplies ran out at other stations.

Long lines were reported at some stations that have fuel. Other stations are operating normally.

All this comes after the strong winds and thunderstorms destroyed trees and electrical power equipment across a wide area of eastern Ontario and parts of western Quebec, leaving tens of thousands of customers without electricity for nearly 72 hours.

The demand for fuel increased to obtain supplies for driving, traveling to places with electricity to operate generators, and other storm aftermath equipment such as chainsaws and others.

Meanwhile, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said Tuesday morning: "It has been a source of concern in the past two days."

"Some gas stations have plenty of fuel, but no electricity, so they cannot pump fuel. Gas ran out at other stations."

The head of MacEwen Gas, which owns and operates several gas stations in the Ottawa area, said Tuesday that some of its stations have no power and that there is increased demand and lines at its powered stations.

Peter MacEwen also said that some fuel distribution centers in Ottawa experienced power outages.

This means that fuel truck drivers had to travel longer distances - to Montreal, for example - to get fuel to bring to stations in Ottawa.

Watson said, "Because climate change causes more weather fluctuations, it might be a good idea to require gas stations to have a backup generator."

When asked about operating gas stations, Hydro Ottawa said its primary focus is on restoring institutions that serve the community to the power grid, such as hospitals, long-term care, and water treatment facilities.

Joseph Muglia, Director of System Operations and Network Automation at Hydro Ottawa, said Tuesday that they are also focusing on making repairs that restore power to the greatest number of customers at once.

"Bringing electricity to gas stations is secondary to bringing it to other more important centers. Again, we are doing our best to bring power that would reach the greatest number of customers."

Edited by: Dima Abu Khair