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Thousands are still in the dark in N.S. and P.E.I. a week after Fiona

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More than 66,000 customers remain without power in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island Saturday afternoon, as the provinces recover from post-tropical storm Fiona.

NOVA SCOTIA

Just after 2 p.m., more than 37,000 Nova Scotia Power (NSP) customers did not have electricity, according to the company’s outage map.

In a Saturday news release, NSP said over 1,500 people are continuing to work to restore power in the province, as crews remove large trees in their path.

“We are seeing trees five feet in diameter on the ground and across roads,” said Mark Sidebottom, Cape Breton emergency operations centre lead.

NSP says, in many cases, the trees being moved are so large that heavy equipment and cranes are the only way they can be moved.

“This heavy equipment is essential to help clear the way so our crews can do the work that needs to be done to get customers reconnected,” said Sidebottom. According to the company, this type of work makes restoration “very complex.”

With thousands of downed trees and hundreds of broken poles in the province, NSP says many lines and wires remain on the ground. The company is asking residents to treat all downed lines as if they are live, and to stay back from them the length of a bus.

“We understand it has generated a great deal of interest and customers have questions about when their power will be restored,” said Lia MacDonald, northeast emergency operations centre lead. “It’s really important to keep a safe distance from crews and allow them to focus on their work.”

NSP says residents should be aware of trees that are either touching or tangled in overhead lines. “Do not attempt to cut them down yourself,” the company said.

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

As of 2 p.m., more than 29,000 Maritime Electric customers on P.E.I. did not have power. The communities of Charlottetown, Stratford and Cornwall had the highest number of outages.

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