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
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
NEW 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire': A crowd pleaser that turns it up to 11
Hot on the heels of last year's 'Godzilla Minus One' comes 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,' the first ever Academy Award winner in the giant reptile's decades-long film career.