'Check on neighbours, check on families': NB Power outages linger into Christmas

NB Power says work will continue Christmas Day until all customers are back on the grid following a windstorm one week ago.

As of Christmas Eve, about 1,500 NB Power customers had no electricity, mostly in rural parts of Charlotte County.

Around 355 power crews were on the ground working to reconnect power on Sunday, according to NB Power.

Several customers were given an estimated power restoration time of late Sunday. Other customers weren't offered any estimated restoration time at all. 

Blaine Sutherland didn't think he’d have power back until Christmas Day at the earliest. A tree was still hanging over a power line connected to his Charlotte County home on Sunday afternoon, with the hum of a generator operating nearby.

Sutherland purchased the generator a decade ago after another weather-related Christmas Day power outage.

“It’s costing me about 80 dollars a day buying Canadian supreme gas to keep the generator going,” said Sutherland. “So it’s an added expense.”

Warming reception centres remain open in areas with power outages. 

Local volunteers and first responders have also been conducting official safety checks.

“Check on neighbours, check on family,” said N.B. EMO spokesperson Geoffrey Downey. “I know it’s a busy time of year and this kind of situation only makes it worse, but let’s make sure we're all pulling in the same direction. Don't count on someone else to do it. If you have the time and it’s safe to do so, go check on that neighbour, go check on that family member.”

Nearly 5,000 NB Power customers had no power on Saturday night, down from 8,000 customer outages on Friday night. 

According to NB Power, more than 125,000 customers lost power at least once during the Dec. 18-19 storm.

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