The Big Thaw: Burst pipes, water damage wreak havoc on Maritime homes
After one of the coldest days in years for most of the Maritimes, temperatures were up significantly Sunday.
Now, after the big chill came the big thaw -- and a flood of calls for local plumbers.
Trevor Wheatley started his work day early. He received 87 texts Saturday night and almost 50 phone calls Sunday morning. With frozen pipes now defrosting, many in the Halifax area and beyond are calling for help.
“I’ve got people from Windsor crying out because they can’t get anybody to service them and they’re willing to pay extra travel time and extra money,” said Wheatley.
It wasn’t just plumbers dealing with broken lines. The city’s water utility had to fix another broken main Sunday, after dealing with a number of them Saturday.
Fire crews were also run off their feet.
“It’s been a large volume of calls, probably four times what we would normally see during this time span,” said Chief Robert Hebb, District 3 Chief of Halifax Firefighters.
A representative of the firefighters union says it’s responded to 173 incidents between midnight and 2:30 a.m. Normally they see about a thousand a month.
Calls Sunday included fishing a vehicle out of the Bedford Basin after it slid down an icy boat launch. No one was hurt.
Hebb says many of the calls were about broken or leaking sprinkler and piping systems, along with some fires associated with heat sources to both residential and commercial properties.
“Today is pretty much a record day. We had well over 100 calls before 6:30 a.m. this morning. Most of those calls have involved sprinkler systems and alarm systems.”
It was also a busy day for power crews trying to reconnect more than 25,000 customers knocked off the grid. By 4:00 p.m. Sunday, the number was down to less than 3,800 across the Maritimes.
Frozen pipes are also an issue in the Moncton area, with water damage forcing two people from their apartments and the closure of Riverview Middle School on Monday and Tuesday.
A similar story in Charlottetown, where burst pipes forced two people out from a townhouse complex on Park Royal Court. The Red Cross also aided them with emergency lodging and meals.
“We’ve assisted more than 40 people over ten different communities. Several of those were house fires. Most of those were burst pipes and the resulting flooding.”
A short cold snap leaving a flood of clean-up work in its wake.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
LeBlanc says he plans to run in next election, under Trudeau's leadership
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
Sports columnist apologizes for 'oafish' comments directed at Caitlin Clark. The controversy isn’t over
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball’s highest scorer Caitlin Clark’s first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
Health Canada to change sperm donor screening rules for men who have sex with men
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
U.S. vetoes a widely supported UN resolution backing full membership for Palestine
The United States has vetoed a widely backed UN resolution that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for the state of Palestine.
Bayer recalls hydraSense baby product over 'potential contamination'
Bayer announced Thursday it is recalling two lots of its hydraSense Baby Nasal Care Easydose due to a potential contamination.
N.L. gardening store revives 19th century seed-packing machine
Technology from the 19th century has been brought out of retirement at a Newfoundland gardening store, as staff look for all the help they can get to fill orders during a busy season.
Cat found on Toronto Pearson airport runway 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Grandparent scam suspects had ties to Italian organized crime, police allege
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.