Over 172,500 customers find themselves without electricity on Saturday afternoon as the aftermath of post-tropical storm Lee takes its toll on the Maritimes.
Around 11:30 a.m., Nova Scotia Power reported over 2,078 active outages affecting more than 121,000 customers, with a significant number of these outages concentrated in the western part of the province and the Halifax metro area.
The utility company has been working diligently to restore power, managing to bring electricity back to some customers early in the morning. However, as weather conditions deteriorate, with winds reaching speeds above 80 km/h, it becomes unsafe for crews to operate from elevated buckets. Consequently, their focus has shifted to assessing damage and restoring power from the ground where feasible.
Matt Drover, NS Power’s storm lead, stated in a Saturday morning news release, “Crews have been able to restore power to some customers early this morning, however, conditions are getting worse. In many cases, especially when winds are above 80 km/h, it isn’t safe for our crews to be up in the buckets, so we focus on assessing damage and restoring power from the ground where possible.”
While tropical storm force winds continue to batter Nova Scotia, we want to remind customers that if you come across a downed wire, please stay as far away as possible. Treat the line as energized and report it to our outage line at 1-877-428-6004. Stay safe and visit… pic.twitter.com/yBngIcirtU
— Nova Scotia Power (@nspowerinc) September 16, 2023
As of approximately 11:30 p.m., NB Power has reported around 527 outages impacting more than 15,000 customers in the wake of post-tropical storm Lee. A significant number of these outages are concentrated in the Fredericton area.
In a social media update on Saturday afternoon, NB Power stated, “Our team is in the field to assess damage and begin making necessary repairs where conditions are safe.”
Efforts to restore power are underway as teams work diligently to evaluate the extent of the damage and address the outages caused by the storm.
12:00 PM Update: As of noon today, a little over 38,000 customers are without power as we continue to deal with the impacts of Hurricane Lee. Our team is in the field to assess damage and begin making necessary repairs where conditions are safe.
— NB Power (@NB_Power) September 16, 2023
As of 10 p.m., the outage map from Maritime Electric indicated that approximately 3,100 customers were experiencing power outages.
Dozens of contractor crews received onboarding training and safety orientations yesterday and this morning to ensure they feel confident and safe working on the PEI electrical system. pic.twitter.com/d04uOgy8hM
— Maritime Electric (@MECLPEI) September 16, 2023