Crews work to fix last of Dorian-related power outages

Most of the few remaining Nova Scotia Power customers still without electricity after Dorian ripped through the province more than a week ago should have their power restored by late Monday afternoon, according to the utility's website.

On Monday morning, there were fewer than 100 customers still without power because of Dorian. Only a few pockets of power outages remained, most of which are expected to be fixed before 5 p.m., according to the website.   

Only people living on the LaHave Islands on the South Shore and those near Sheet Harbour are not expected to have their power back by that time, and may have to wait until Tuesday.

In a news release, Nova Scotia Power said the LaHave Islands and islands off Indian Point in Mahone Bay had several poles and several hundred metres of power lines knocked down by Dorian.

Crews and equipment must be transported to the islands by boat and helicopter, but the utility expects full repairs in the area will be completed in the next 24 to 48 hours.

Some power crews are now starting to shift from emergency power restoration work to previously scheduled customer work that was put on hold while the damage from Dorian was repaired. However, the utility will keep its emergency operations centre open until the final customer has their power back, said the release.  

Dorian made landfall in Nova Scotia on Saturday Sept. 7 and its hurricane-strength winds knocked over trees, ripped down power lines and damaged roofs. At one point, 411,000 homes and businesses lost their electricity. Over the ensuing week there were another 50,000 additional outages, mostly caused by weakened trees.

The Canadian Armed Forces were called in to help with the cleanup. They wrapped up their work Sunday. 

In total, 450 members of Joint Task Force Atlantic were involved in the military's response to the storm.

They were deployed to many regions across the province and surveyed 9,000 kilometres of roadway. By the time they finished their work they had helped reopen 445 kilometres of road and had removed more than 600 trees along with other debris, according to a news release from the province's emergency management office.

But not everything is back to normal.

In Halifax there are several targeted street restrictions in place including street closures, parking bans and traffic control measures to allow for the removal of downed trees.

The roads impacted include Stairs Place, Waterloo Street, Hillside Avenue, North Street, Kline Street and Cathedral Lane. 

The municipal website said that prohibited parking signs will be in place where necessary and vehicles will be towed if they are impeding the work or tree-removal crews. Traffic control personnel will also be on site in some areas. 

Vehicle and pedestrian traffic continues to be restricted in and around the collapsed construction crane on South Park Street.

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