Nearly 5,000 NB Power customers remain off the grid as Christmas Eve approaches
Nearly 5,000 NB Power customers were still off the grid early Saturday evening, with the race to reconnect households moving closer to Christmas Day.
The bulk of power outages remaining from Monday's wind storm are in Charlotte County, with smaller pockets around Fredericton and Woodstock.
Nearly 8,000 NB Power customers went to bed on Friday night without electricity.
Logan Binney began his fifth day without power in St. David Ridge near St. Stephen, N.B., with the hope of getting electricity back in time to host a Christmas Eve gathering.
Binney tempered his expectations on Saturday with the knowledge that just down the road remained an untouched tangled mess of branches, power lines, and utility poles.
"It just goes to show how much damage there is and how widespread it is," said Binney. "It's everywhere. The crews are coming from all over the place."
In a statement Saturday, NB Power said remaining outages would be some of the most difficult to address.
"Crews are encountering massive, uprooted trees, often several causing one outage impacting an individual customer," said the utility's statement. "Repairs for single outages often include removing trees and vegetation, replacing poles and equipment and restringing wires. In many cases, these repairs can take several hours and require many crews."
Throughout the day, restoration times on the NB Power outages website shifted from late Saturday to late Sunday. Some customers in particular locations weren't provided a restoration time at all, including Sebastian Rodas in St. Andrews.
"Hopefully by Christmas," said an optimistic Rodas. "We're just crossing our fingers that will be the case."
Rodas said people have been offering firewood to his family to help with heating.
"We just moved to town from Calgary, and all of our neighbours and the few people that we know in town have been extremely helpful and kind," said Rodas.
According to NB Power, more than 125,000 customers lost power at least once during the storm.
For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From essential goods to common stocking stuffers, Trudeau offering Canadians temporary tax relief
Canadians will soon receive a temporary tax break on several items, along with a one-time $250 rebate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
She thought her children just had a cough or fever. A mother shares sons' experience with walking pneumonia
A mother shares with CTVNews.ca her family's health scare as medical experts say cases of the disease and other respiratory illnesses have surged, filling up emergency departments nationwide.
Putin says Russia attacked Ukraine with a new missile that he claims the West can't stop
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday that Moscow has tested a new intermediate-range missile in a strike on Ukraine, and he warned that it could use the weapon against countries that have allowed Kyiv to use their missiles to strike Russia.
Service Canada holding back 85K passports amid Canada Post mail strike
Approximately 85,000 new passports are being held back by Service Canada, which stopped mailing them out a week before the nationwide Canada Post strike.
Taylor Swift's motorcade spotted along Toronto's Gardiner Expressway
Taylor Swift is officially back in Toronto for round two. The popstar princess's motorcade was seen driving along the Gardiner Expressway on Thursday afternoon, making its way to the downtown core ahead of night four of ‘The Eras Tour’ at the Rogers Centre.
Manitoba RCMP issue Canada-wide warrant for Ontario semi-driver charged in deadly crash
Manitoba RCMP have issued a Canada-wide arrest warrant for the semi-driver involved in a crash that killed an eight-year-old girl and her mother.
Here's a list of items that will be GST/HST-free over the holidays
Canadians won’t have to pay GST on a selection of items this holiday season, the prime minister vowed on Thursday.
Mother charged after infant dies in midtown Toronto: police
The mother of an infant who died after being found at an apartment building in midtown Toronto on Wednesday has been charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life.
B.C. man who sold Porsche to scammers shares cautionary tale
A man from B.C.’s Lower Mainland who was scammed while selling his Porsche Cayenne online is sharing his cautionary tale – while calling for increased protections from the government.