SYDNEY, N.S. -- Two days after a winter storm hit, more than 1,400 Nova Scotia Power customers were still without power when they woke up Monday. All but 100 or so were in Cape Breton.

More than 30 centimetres of snow fell on the Sydney area, starting Saturday evening. 

It wasn't until 24 hours later when D-Anna Mahoney got her electricity restored.

"I don't understand what's happening, but I do feel that they're not coming here quickly enough to restore our power," she said.

Mahoney says she spent much of Sunday shivering and that much of the trailer park she lives in was in the dark.

"It was very cold, and there's a lot of seniors up here, a lot of young children," she said.

Nova Scotia Power sent crews from the mainland to the island to make repairs and they say road conditions impacted travel times.

When they arrived, they found that heavy, wet snow had wreaked havoc on power lines and, in some cases, caused even bigger problems.

"We're finding in rural areas, there's quite a bit of snow build-up on the trees and on our lines, and we're encountering quite a bit of damage when they get into the more rural areas," said Sean Borden.

At the peak of Saturday’s storm, 40,000 people across Nova Scotia were without power as the snow built up on trees, which then came into contact with power lines.

For those still impacted Monday, the utility expected most, if not all, would be restored by the end of the day as there were 42 crews working to restore power.

By 11:33 p.m., Nova Scotia Power's website was reporting only 14 power outages affecting 31 customers in the province. The numbers have dropped since Monday morning, when the utility was reporting close to 200 outages affecting more than 1,200 customers.

Mahoney simply wants assurance the power will come back more quickly next time and she worries how long she might be in the dark if a much bigger storm were to hit.

"I'm a taxpayer and a power-bill payer -- and believe me, the power bills are high," Mahoney said.

According to Environment Canada, the storm dumped 32 centimetres of snow on the airport in Sydney, while towns along the northeastern coast of the province, such as New Glasgow and Pictou, saw up to 20 centimetres.