Over 280,000 Maritimers still without power in Fiona's wake
Strong winds and heavy rainfall from Fiona left nearly 500,000 Maritimers without power at the peak of outages.
The powerful post-tropical storm, which saw wind gusts as high as 141 kilometres per hour in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and estimates of more than 200 millimetres of rain, continued to make its way through the Atlantic region Saturday afternoon into the evening.
NOVA SCOTIA
As of 11 p.m. Sunday, 194,086 customers were without power in Nova Scotia.
Matt Drover, storm lead for Nova Scotia Power (NSP), says crews have been able to survey the damage after wind levels prevented them from doing so for much of Saturday.
“This is a big day for us,” said Drover during a news conference Sunday. “We are seeing extensive damage, in the eastern part of the province, specifically Cape Breton, where hundreds of poles have come down as trees have toppled over them from hurricane-force winds.”
He says NSP will start forming a plan on overall power restoration once the scope of the damage is better understood.
Drover says NSP has drones and helicopters in the air Sunday to determine the extent of the damage.
More than 1,000 utility crew members are on the ground in Nova Scotia Sunday, with more coming from Ontario, other Maritime provinces and the United States, says Drover.
He says the biggest challenge preventing power from getting back online in some areas is the crews’ ability to get there.
“So, we are working really closely with EMO on that, clearing roads, making sure we have access to all of those hard-to-reach areas, getting crews in there to repair those poles,” said Drover. “We had whole streets where trees have come down and broken almost every pole along that street.”
Drover asks anyone in Nova Scotia who is without power and has not seen their area on the NSP outage map to call the utility and report the outage.
NEW BRUNSWICK
As of 11 p.m. Sunday, 9,430 customers in New Brunswick were without power.
In an interview with CTV Atlantic, an NB Power representative noted that estimated restoration times are currently extending into Sunday evening.
“Outages continue to be reported as the weather system makes its way through New Brunswick, so we’re expecting more outages throughout the day,” the rep said, adding that while crews are active in each district, the southeast of the province is the hardest hit.
According to NB Power, more than 79,000 customers in the province have lost power since storm conditions began Friday night.
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
As of 11 p.m. Sunday, 80,794 customers were without power on Prince Edward Island.
In an update from P.E.I.’s EMO on Saturday afternoon, officials noted the recovery response will be in the “multi-millions.”
“In the past 12 hours, our province has experienced historic weather conditions caused by Hurricane Fiona,” Premier Dennis King said. “It’s been, to state the obvious, quite a day. And while we hope the worst is behind us, we know as of yet, the storm is not over.”
Officials say there have been no reports of significant injuries or deaths related to the storm.
Fiona brought winds over 170 km/h and storm surge over two metres to Prince Edward Island, resulting in downed power lines and flooding.
“By early accounts, the devastation looks to be beyond anything we have witnessed before in Prince Edward Island,” King said, adding that the province’s road to recovery will be “weeks or longer.”
Around 7 p.m. on Saturday, Charlottetown Police tweeted a warning about travelling on the roads, writing, "the amount of people on the roads is absurd."
"If you are out for reasons other than an emergency or getting to your job as an essential worker, you are impeding clean-up and emergency vehicles getting through," they added.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Three dead, two hospitalized, following collision in Fredericton: police
Three people have died and two have been hospitalized after a speeding car struck a tree and landed on another vehicle in Fredericton Sunday morning.
Amid climate change warnings, Canadians lukewarm on electric vehicles
Amid scientists' warnings that nations need to transition away from fossil fuels to limit climate change, Canadians are still lukewarm on electric vehicles, according to a study conducted by Nanos Research for CTV News.
Montreal man on the hook for thousands of dollars after a feature on his Tesla caused an accident
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
Madonna's biggest-ever concert transforms Rio's Copacabana beach into a massive dance floor
Madonna put on a free concert on Copacabana beach Saturday night, turning Rio de Janeiro's vast stretch of sand into an enormous dance floor teeming with a multitude of her fans.
1 person killed and 23 injured in a bus crash in northern Maryland, police say
One person was killed and 23 others were injured when a bus crashed early Sunday on Interstate 95 in northern Maryland, police said.
Nylander defends Leafs' core after playoff exit, Toronto again picks up the pieces
William Nylander stood in a solemn visitors locker room at TD Garden just before midnight. The Maple Leafs had battled back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Boston Bruins with consecutive 2-1 victories - including one that required extra time - in their first-round playoff series to push the club's Original Six rival to the limit before suffering a devastating Game 7 overtime loss. Nylander's message was emphatic.
El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
‘Love has no boundaries’: Sask. couple in their 90s and 80s get married
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Video shows gaggle of geese stopping traffic on Highway 1 near Vancouver
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.