‘We’re trapped’

Residents of Hemlock Hill seniors’ community went nearly 48 hours locked in with their lights out

In the wake of last week’s storm, home owners at Hemlock Hill were looking back on how vulnerable they found themselves.

Units were without power after a tree fell across the mobile home park’s only road in and out of the community.

“There’s zero emergency access to the community right now,” property owner Blair van Veld said Friday. “Eleven out of the 12 homes in the upper section of the community are lived in by seniors. It’s totally unacceptable.”

“This is a seniors’ park and we’re trapped,” said Fraser Murphy, another resident of the Hemlock Hill community.

The fallen tree also damaged nearby power lines, so the park was without power for an extended time, beginning at 4 a.m. on Thursday.

Residents across Pictou County were hit hard by the high winds and snow that pummeled the region. There were 14,000 Nova Scotia Power customers still without electricity by Friday.

“It’s not just that the power is out,” said Murphy, pointing to a nearby home. “The gentleman that lives there was in the ICU last week, and there’s others in their 80s with breathing problems.”

By mid-afternoon Friday, work crews removed the tree and Nova Scotia Power was able to restore electricity to the 14 residents of Hemlock Hill.