'Phone calls haven’t slowed down': Electricians, Nova Scotia Power continue to chip away at outages
Most people in Nova Scotia still without electricity after post-tropical storm Fiona are in the northeastern part of the province, where both electricians and Nova Scotia Power crews are working on individual outages.
The utility said Wednesday that about 80 per cent of customers without power are individual homes that require one or more crews to complete final repairs.
The power meter on Laura Bennett’s house in Crowes Mills, N.S., came to its end after it became full of water during the storm. A tree on her property also toppled, ripping down her meter mast.
Bennett ran her generator intermittently for 12 days, which she says cost her $400 in gas.
On Wednesday, she was waiting for Nova Scotia Power to put a new meter on her house after getting necessary electrical repairs, but said she was frustrated the utility hadn’t given her a timeline.
“I know that there’s people out there in the same situation, or in far worse situations, I just want information,” she said. “I need to know cause I need to plan accordingly.”
As of Wednesday morning, Bennett was among the more than 1,500 single customer outages in northeastern Nova Scotia.
Most of the single customer outages require certified electricians to fix meter masts first.
“The phone calls haven’t slowed down,” said electrician Steve Sorensen on Wednesday. At that point, he had 40 mast jobs on the go and another 40 in the queue.
He added that getting the necessary repair supplies can sometimes be challenging.
“Some days we don’t have anything, next day we have a lot, but it goes out quickly. We’re just doing our best.”
Officials say there is light on the horizon.
“Our target for completing the restoration process in the northeast is Sunday of this weekend,” said Nova Scotia Power’s northeast emergency operations centre lead Lia MacDonald.
The utility says it’s working on getting each individual customer still affected.
“There are a variety of reasons why it’s happening in this order, but we will get there and we will be focused on all of this until it’s done, including everyone who is in that situation,” said MacDonald.
Powers crews arrived at Bennett’s home Wednesday afternoon with her new meter, restoring her power.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.