Storm leaves thousands without power in Nova Scotia
Hundreds of Nova Scotia Power crews have spent Boxing Day stitching together power lines snapped by a winter storm that brought damaging winds to Atlantic Canada on Christmas Day.
Around 24,000 homes and businesses in Nova Scotia remained without electricity as of about 2:30 p.m. local time, according to the province’s power utility.
Nova Scotia Power spokeswoman Tiffany Chase said around 123,000 customers who were blacked out had their power restored by around noon on Tuesday.
She said more than 650 personnel are working “around the clock” to get the rest of the province back on the grid, including contract crews from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Electricity will gradually be restored for many residents on Tuesday, and the utility estimates that 95 per cent of its customers will see their power come back on by Wednesday afternoon, Chase said.
“We know it is the holidays and many people have plans for things like turkey dinners ... they would have made in advance not anticipating this weather system,” Chase said in an interview on Tuesday afternoon.
“We do appreciate their patience as our crews continue to safely work to restore power to customers as quickly as possible.”
In total, approximately 158,000 Nova Scotians have been affected by the outages, Chase said, amounting to nearly one-third of the utility’s 507,000 customers throughout the province. The province’s south shore, Dartmouth and Sydney were among the areas most severely affected, she said.
Chase said as the wind died down, helicopters and vehicles were deployed to survey the damage throughout the province, which included downed trees snapped power lines and “patches” of broken utility poles.
Paul Mason, executive director of the provincial government’s Emergency Management Office, said the agency has been working with other officials to help municipal authorities decide whether to set up warming shelters.
Aside from the power outages, Mason said he was not aware of any reports of major infrastructure damage.
He warned residents who are using generators, barbecues and other gas-powered appliances to beware of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, which killed two people and injured several others during a devastating ice storm in New Brunswick last January that caused widespread power outages for days.
Staff Sgt. Robert Fox of Halifax Regional Police said the city’s major arteries have been cleared after downed electrical lines, shattered glass and other debris temporarily disrupted traffic.
Fox said he had heard reports of trees crushing cars, a toppled porta-potty and splintered trunks, but it appears that property damage in the city has been relatively minor.
A low-pressure system barreled across the eastern seaboard and into the Gulf of St. Lawrence over Christmas and was hovering over Newfoundland on Tuesday, Environment Canada said.
The weather agency recorded gusts in excess of 100 km/h throughout much of Nova Scotia, reaching hurricane-force speeds at their peak in some areas, according to preliminary reports.