Nine days after Fiona, P.E.I. residents without power alarmed at pace of response
Residents of Prince Edward Island said Monday they're growing exhausted, anxious and cold as thousands remained without power nine days after post-tropical storm Fiona swept through the region.
Wanda Arnold, a 70-year-old resident of Huntingdon Court seniors complex in Charlottetown, said in an interview she and other residents have been given blankets, but at night they've been shivering in the dark.
"People don't have anything to do. They're bored, they're cold. It went down to -2 C last night. There's people in this building that don't have too much meat on their bones and they're freezing," she said.
Arnold also said the complex's operators had dropped off food and small flashlights, but the assistance had been sporadic and insufficient.
As of Monday evening, there were still over 16,000 customers on the Island without power. On the day after the storm, private utility Maritime Electric had indicated there were 82,000 customers without power -- a number that represented about 90 per cent of its customers.
Peter Bevan-Baker, leader of the Opposition Green Party, said he has questions about why the restoration is taking so long. "It's been frustratingly slow. Ten days in with the temperatures we've seen and will continue to see, this is a public health and human safety issue."
Kim Griffin, a spokeswoman for Maritime Electric, said Monday that most of the Island should have power back by Sunday.
Senior homes are on the "priority list," she said, saying the main reason for the delay was trees falling on the utility's infrastructure.
"We're not looking for praise at all," she said. "We just want to get the job done for you and get your power back on."
P.E.I. Premier Dennis King said his government has been attempting to obtain temporary generators for common areas in the provincial seniors complexes without power.
"I think that we're learning a lot about ourselves in a difficulty like this and hopefully (we can) use that to be prepared in the future," he said.
Kylee Graham, who hasn't had power at her Charlottetown apartment since 1 a.m. on Sept. 24, said life is increasingly difficult as she and her partner cope with cooling temperatures and a lack of heat or light in their unit.
The 26-year-old doctoral student at the Atlantic Veterinary College is also a volunteer with the Charlottetown Mutual Aid, and says she is encountering seniors and homeless people whose situation is worse than her own.
"It makes me very angry that there's not more being done ... I think the government could be doing more but instead it's up to us to help these folks and I don't think that is OK," she said in an interview on Monday.
Graham and Arnold say they believe that more repair crews should have been available from the utility to restore the outages.
"I can't believe there's been so little help here. This is seniors and this is not acceptable," said Arnold. "They knew this storm was coming and they were ill prepared."
Chad Stordy of Charlottetown said on Monday that the temperature at his house read 11 C in the middle of the day, as his family went another day without electricity.
He said he and his partner Kelsey Creed have two children, aged three and nine, both of whom had colds and a fever.
"I'm upset," Stordy said from his home, as his three-year-old cuddled with Creed, and the nine-year-old watched a generator-powered television.
"I can't bring them outside. I can't bring them to a warming center because they're sick and I'd risk getting other people sick," he said. "So, we're kind of in one of those weird spots where there's not a lot we can do other than call Maritime Electric to be told: 'Sorry. It's probably still gonna be days."'
Stordy said better estimates on restoration time would have allowed him to plan to leave the province temporarily, avoiding the days of chilly temperatures and discomfort.
Meanwhile, in Nova Scotia, the power utility reported that there were still about 20,000 customers without power. The figures have steadily fallen since the original figures of 415,000 were reported on the day after the storm.
More than 1,500 people, including power line technicians, damage assessors, forestry technicians and field support are still on the ground in Nova Scotia, with the majority in the northeast and eastern parts of the province.
By Michael Tutton in Halifax and Hina Alam in Fredericton.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.