Nova Scotia Power ‘making progress’ as more than 90K customers remain in dark

Provincial and municipal representatives in Nova Scotia say efforts to restore hard-hit areas are still underway after post-tropical storm Fiona.

Fiona hit Atlantic Canada last Friday night into Saturday, causing widespread power outages, washing out roads and downing trees.

Some of the hardest hit areas in the province were on Cape Breton Island and Cumberland County.

In a provincial briefing on Monday, premier Tim Houston announced a $40 million relief package from the province, which included direct one-time payments to affected residents and funding to community organizations.

In a Wednesday update with officials and service providers, Jason Mew from the Nova Scotia Emergency Management Office said there is still significant debris in some areas of the province.

“We have additional resources in Pictou, Guysborough and Antigonish (counties),” he said.

“We’re looking at getting additional personnel from Atlantic Canada to enhance that restoration.”

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Mew also said the EMO is working with suppliers to stabilize fuel supply across Nova Scotia, including in Cape Breton which was among the hardest hit areas.

Matt Drover, the storm lead with Nova Scotia Power, said Fiona “left damage that we haven’t seen in this province before.”

Drover said the company has 1,400 people in the field “working around the clock” to restore power. As of 3:45 p.m., there were still more than 94,000 customers without power.

The military and Department of Natural Resources are assisting the company in getting to areas that are still hard to reach by clearing the roads.

“We’ve seen thousands of trees come down in the storm impacting infrastructure and we have hundreds of broken poles,” he said.

“We are making progress, but a storm of this magnitude and damage like this does take time to clean up.”

Drover said the company expects the majority of clients to have power back by Friday night. Those in severely damaged areas may have to wait until the weekend.

He also asked Nova Scotians to alert the company if they see wires on the ground, and to not touch them as they could be electricized.

“We understand how frustrating power outages can be.”