Much of Prince Edward Island still without power, restoration efforts continue

Much of Prince Edward Island has been without power for three days however, work is underway across the province to get electricity flowing again.

As of Tuesday, 62,000 homes and businesses remain without power - that after 10,000 had it restored return Monday.

A total of 21,000 are back online after the storm, and 95 per cent of substations are up and running.

"We are making incremental steps each day," said Tanya Mullally, P.E.I. emergency measures organization director. "Every day when we’re hearing more grocery stores open, gas stations, and power being restored. It’s just evidence that things are moving in the right direction."

Critical areas continue to be the focus for restoration efforts, and as a way to boost the work, the number of Maritime Electric crew members set to be on ground Wednesday is said to rise to 127.

"As we work through that, all that will enable is those essential services to come back up as well," said Mullally. "More gas stations, more grocery stores, more community services, and business will be able to open their doors."

Officials have dropped a request for islanders to stay homes, but are still asking everyone to be careful and mindful of the working crews.

Renewal has also been called to avoid downed power lines as these could still have electricity.

"That’s my most terrifying thought through this event and through the storm is if this happened to anyone that was near power lines," said Kim Griffin, Maritime Electric spokesperson. "So we are continuing to ask people to stay clear of them. We don’t want them anywhere near them."

The city of Summerside has already seen most of its power restored as it operates an independent electric company. Now, they've been working to return power to those living with city limits.

Exact restoration times for the vast majority of the province remain unknown.