The death toll from powerful thunderstorms in Canada’s two most populous provinces this weekend has risen to at least eight as emergency crews continued a massive clean-up to restore power to 500,000 people.

The storms, which lasted more than two hours on Saturday afternoon and packed the power of a tornado, left a trail of destruction in parts of Ontario and Quebec.

Wind gusts as strong as 132km/h hour felled trees, uprooted electric poles and toppled many metal transmission towers.

Electricity companies were scrambling on Sunday (local time) to restore transmission lines. Most of the deaths from the storms occurred when people were hit by falling trees, authorities said.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government was ready to help those in need.

Hydro One, Ontario’s biggest electricity distribution company, said in a tweet that crews were responding to significant damage.

Its crews had restored power to more than 360,000 customers, with more than 226,000 remaining without power, the company said in a statement late on Sunday.

Restoration efforts are likely to continue for several days before power is restored to all customers.