New Brunswickers clean up in Lee's wake, thousands still without power
N.B. government said storm damage doesn't warrant disaster financial assistance
As cleanup continued on Sunday in the wake of post-tropical storm Lee, the New Brunswick government said the damage doesn't warrant disaster financial assistance.
Based on "initial information from communities that damages to infrastructure and properties are light, disaster financial assistance is not expected," stated a government news release sent out Sunday afternoon.
The release went on to say, "Wind and surface flooding are insurable losses. Impacted individuals should contact their insurance providers to report damage."
Cleanup, meanwhile, continued on Sunday in communities across the province.
Power crews were still working to restore power to thousands who were without. By 5:30 p.m. AT Sunday, there were about 4,000 N.B. Power customers waiting for power — the majority of them in the Fredericton and southwestern areas of the province — down from a storm peak of about 38,000.
In all, N.B. Power said about 88,000 customers were impacted at some point during the storm.
Some will have to wait until Monday
The utility estimates that some customers will have to wait until Monday evening before their power is restored. The latest restoration times can be found online.
"As customer outages are restored in some communities, crews are being relocated where they are most needed. Rest assured, we have crews in every district to respond to outages," the utility said in a statement Sunday morning.
Lee, meanwhile, left New Brunswick and passed over Prince Edward Island overnight.
The storm is closing in on Newfoundland's west coast, with the eye expected to make landfall on the western coast around 9 p.m., although with much less power. By mid-afternoon, the Canadian Hurricane Centre estimated Lee's sustained winds to be 74 km/h.
Lee's tropical storm warnings have ended in Atlantic Canada, although gale warnings are still in effect for waters to the south and east of Lee's track.
Communities along the Bay of Fundy felt some of the strongest gusts and rain on Saturday as Lee's eye made its way across the southeastern corner of New Brunswick.
"In terms of the forecast, things played out quite nicely," said CBC meteorologist Ryan Snoddon on Sunday morning. "Both rainfall amounts and wind gusts were pretty much right in line with what was forecast across the Maritimes."
As predicted, the heaviest winds were to the east of Lee, while the heaviest rains were to the west.
The strongest winds were recorded at the Halifax airport, which saw gusts of 117 km/h, while the most rain fell in a diagonal corridor across New Brunswick, from Saint Andrews in the southwest to Doyleville in the northeast, near Dalhousie. The Fredericton area was especially hard hit with some places receiving as much as 121 millimetres.
"Storm surge was also impactful in Nova Scotia," said Snoddon, "but certainly could have been worse in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick with a slightly different path and arrival time, especially when it comes to high tides."
Cleanup continues, especially in Fredericton
The cleanup continues in the province's capital, which saw torrential rain and localized flooding. Some low-lying Fredericton streets filled with water, splashing as high as vehicles' front bumpers.
Route 102 in the Island View area near Fredericton is washed out and impassable, with traffic being diverted.
The Department of Transportation said there's flood damage and water on the road surface. People are advised to use alternate routes.
According to the province's 511 advisories, it's expected to take a week before the road reopens.
With so many roads closed in the province, motorists "should plan ahead if they are considering travel today and continue to check 511 New Brunswick or dial 511 within New Brunswick for updates" on road conditions.
At a gas station in New Maryland, the underside of the canopy over the gas pumps collapsed.
On the Bay of Fundy, ferry service resumed on Sunday morning to Deer Island, Grand Manan and White Head Island.
On the Northumberland Strait, meanwhile, restrictions that were in place on Saturday for the Confederation Bridge were lifted Sunday morning, but authorities warned that due to the "site-specific weather forecast" for wind, restrictions are possible until about 4 p.m. Sunday.
With Lee's exit from the province overnight Saturday, the New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization's shifted the focus to "assessing the impact of the storm," said director Kyle Leavitt.
"We continue to ask for the public's cooperation, as damages and restoration continue to be assessed. We also encourage residents to check on their neighbours, particularly the elderly, who might require assistance."
A release from the New Brunswick government said residents "are advised to stay away from areas where trees are in contact with powerlines or blocking roadways, and to call 911 if there is an immediate safety concern. They should not prune or remove trees on lines, as direct or indirect contact with power lines can be fatal."
Outages going down
N.B. Power spokesperson Dominique Couture said the utility had 700 people ready to go before Lee hit, and all of those people are still supporting the restoration response.
"So, we're definitely using all the resources that we had planned for this event and I think in this case we were accurately prepared for what we saw coming this weekend," she said Sunday morning.
She said N.B. Power was still being notified about new outages overnight on Saturday and into Sunday morning as people awoke to discover they had lost power overnight.
Even with so many personnel in the field, some customers will have to wait until Monday before they get their power back, Couture said.
She said crews in the field experienced some "very challenging conditions" on Saturday.
"We know that we had high winds, rains and the leaves were very heavy [and] branches on the lines were very heavy. So very physical work for our crews yesterday.
"Today, the day is a little clearer. It's easier for crews to, you know, put their heads down and get to work to restore power to the most customers possible."
Although weather conditions have improved, Couture said there's still a lot of debris to contend with, along with saturated ground and "very heavy leaves on lines."
"So it does make work challenging for crews today."
Couture reminded customers without power to let the company know.
"Customers can do that either by reaching out to us online or by calling our customer care number. That number is 1-800-663-6272. Please don't assume that we know your power is out and make sure we are aware."
Not as bad as expected in Saint John
In Saint John, not far from where the eye of the storm hit on Saturday evening, things were "far better than we anticipated," said Mayor Donna Reardon on Sunday morning.
She said several city crews were on standby during the storm and ready to respond.
"So, I would say we fared fairly well, you know, considering what it could have been."
She said Saint John Energy had about 900 customers affected by outages, but all were restored by Sunday morning.
"We had about 50 or so trees down," said Reardon, including some in King's Square.
She said crews have prioritized the trees that have fallen onto roads and buildings, and that work will continue, followed by the cleanup of smaller debris.
Saint John has a number of low-lying areas that are prone to flooding and those were flooded as expected, she said, and some "abandoned cars with that flooding."
With 911 dispatchers out on strike, the city's public service communication centre was being manned by non-union and management personnel, and Reardon said "that all went smooth" even though there were more calls than usual coming in.
Saint Andrews loses beloved tree
In the Town of Saint Andrews, Mayor Brad Henderson said chainsaws could be heard everywhere on Sunday as homeowners and public works officials were out cleaning up fallen trees and debris.
Most people in the community lost power on Saturday, but the majority had it back on Sunday. About 100 homes were still without power as of 1:30 p.m., including Passamaquoddy Lodge, the town's nursing home.
Henderson said while the lodge has a generator, it's still a big area of concern for Saint Andrews, which saw some of the highest rainfall amounts in the Maritimes from Lee.
More than 20 trees went down in Kingsbrae Garden, more than the garden's founder has ever seen fall during a storm, said Henderson.
They included a 25-year-old catalpa that's been growing there since the garden opened.
Henderson, who's also Kingsbrae's managing director, said the loss of that tree was the biggest surprise.
"It's one of the favourite trees in the garden," he said. "It was in a sheltered area, a healthy tree, but the wind just caught it the wrong way and down it went."
In the days leading up to the post-tropical storm, it looked like St. Andrews was supposed to be in the eye. For that reason, Henderson said the town was overprepared, which he said was good news.
He was out at sunup on Saturday, travelling to different parts of the community. The wind started picking up between 8 a.m. and noon, but it died down just in time for high tide, causing minimal damage and flooding.
"I think we're all very fortunate, because it really could have been worse."
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With files from Alexandre Silberman and Raechel Huizinga