'We are seeing unprecedented damage': Power restoration efforts continue across Nova Scotia

With more than 1,400 people in the field and hundreds more behind the scenes, Nova Scotia Power is continuing its restoration efforts across the province.

“Together with the Canadian Armed Forces, Department of Natural Resources and other support personnel, roads are being cleared and access to hard to reach areas, allowing our crews to get in, ensure the area is safe, prepped and ready to start repairing and rebuilding power lines and poles,” reads a news release from Nova Scotia Power.

The utility says the majority of power line technicians, damage assessors, forestry technicians and field support staff will be in the Halifax Regional Municipality, northeast and Cape Breton regions Wednesday.

“We are seeing unprecedented damage to our poles, lines and equipment due to the hurricane force winds from Fiona and thousands of trees that have fallen,” said Matt Drover, the storm lead with NS Power. “With the support of so many, we continue doing foot patrols, using ATVs and flying drones to reach those off-road areas and hard to reach places.”

The majority of customers are expected to get their power back by Friday, according to the utility company. However, some customers may not have power restored until sometime next week.

“There are still lots of lines and wires down. For your own safety please treat them as if they are energized. Stay back the length of a bus and call us and report it right away (1-877-428-6004),” reads the release.

The utility says about 415,000 customers lost power during Fiona and, as of 6 a.m. Wednesday, more than 310,000 have been restored.

WESTERN (Annapolis Valley/Yarmouth/South Shore)

• The main cause of outages in the western region is trees coming into contact with power lines.
• Over 50,000 customers have been affected in the western region. As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, there are less than 20 customers to be restored.

NORTHEAST (Truro/Pictou/Amherst/Antigonish/Guysborough)

• There are over 500 people on the ground in the northeast region including power line technicians, forestry technicians and damage assessors.
• Damage in this region is due primarily to broken poles and downed lines due to falling trees, trees on power lines, and trees on roads limiting access and making travel difficult for crews.
• About 90,000 customers have been affected in this region. As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, 59 per cent of customers in the northeast have been restored.

HRM (Halifax/Dartmouth/Sackville/Bedford/Windsor/Musquodoboit/Chester)

• There are over 400 people on the ground in this region including power line technicians, forestry technicians and damage assessors.
• Damage in HRM is due primarily to trees coming into contact with power lines, downed lines due to falling trees and trees on roads limiting and making travel difficult for crews.
• About 210,000 customers have been affected in this region. As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, 96 per cent of customers in HRM have been restored.

CAPE BRETON

• There are over 500 people on the ground in Cape Breton including powerline technicians, forestry technicians and damage assessors.
• The Canadian Armed Forces and Department of Natural Resources personnel are also on the ground in Cape Breton helping crews remove trees and brush and running supplies.
• Damage in Cape Breton is due primarily to hundreds of broken poles and downed lines due to falling trees, trees on power lines, washed out roads limiting access and making it difficult for crews to move around.
• More than 65,000 customers have been affected in this region. As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, 61 per cent of customers in Cape Breton have been restored.