More than 7,000 Nova Scotia Power customers are still without power after a storm ripped through the region Friday.
The utility says some people may not see their lights come back on until late Sunday evening.
Utility spokeswoman Bev Ware says at one point this weekend, 67,000 customers were without power.
Nova Scotia Power customer Connie MacNeil says this is the longest she’s been without power.
“We just got to keep warm, keep the blankets out," said MacNeil.
Nova Scotia Power says crews are grappling with heavy, wet snow that has built up on tree branches, causing them to droop over power lines.
As quickly as crews were able to make repairs, new outages kept popping up. More than 8,500 of them nearly nullified the 12,000 restorations made Sunday.
"It's a very tough job,” said Ware. “But powerline technicians are extremely dedicated to the work that they do."
Two hospitals running on backup generators had their power restored Sunday. Nova Scotia Power says areas with a larger number of customers get priority first.
The Cape Breton Regional Municipality opened six warming centres across the island equipped with hot beverages and outlets for charges devices. Three currently remain open.
Nova Scotia Power says more than 90 per cent of those who originally lost power during the storm are back on the grid.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ryan MacDonald and The Canadian Press.
