No internet a major headache for some Pictou County residents

It's been almost three weeks since post-tropical storm Fiona churned through Pictou County, leaving many people without power for a week and a half.

Some are still without home phone and internet service.

"It's super frustrating," said Roz MacPherson, who works from her home in Kings Head but has not been able to work since the storm.

"I can't work right now because I need my online work, so I'm losing income."

MacPherson is upset with the lack of communication from her internet provider, Eastlink.

This week she wrote a letter to Eastlink's CEO where she demanded answers about internet restoration.

"I'm sure that you would not enjoy living with this level of uncertainty for yourself and your family and can empathize with the situation myself and community members here find themselves in," wrote MacPherson.

Companies like Eastlink and Bell had to wait for Nova Scotia Power crews to finish their work before they were able to work on restoring the internet to the coastal communities of Kings Head and Little Harbour, which bore the brunt of the storm.

But power crews pulled out early last week and MacPherson says there aren't enough crews in the area working to fix the internet issue.

"It was amazing what Nova Scotia Power was able to do with trucks from Vermont and Ontario and crews from all over the place," said MacPherson.

"Eastlink is a pretty big company and I'm sure their senior management must have contacts and can pull people in from other areas."

No short-term fix

Days after the storm, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston, who lives in the impacted area, blasted telecommunication companies for not doing enough to keep the public informed about service restoration times.

He called for greater regulation that would require the companies to be more transparent.

While additional crews are being brought in to tackle the restoration job, it is still going to be a while for some residents to have their internet up and running.

"We are aware of some customers who have been given appointment times that stretch into November in the harder hit area of Pictou County where there has been extensive damage from Fiona," Eastlink spokesperson Jill Laing said in an email statement.

"In most cases, these customers won't need an appointment at all as they will restore automatically when the [fibre] line repairs are completed."

Allan Keefe lives in Little Harbour. He is also struggling without phone and internet service at the home where he and his wife run Chapel Cove Chocolates from their basement.

"I can't get any phone calls, I can't get any internet," said Keefe. "I have to drive into New Glasgow to the centre of town where there is free Wi-Fi."

Keefe said he takes his laptop computer with him into New Glasgow, a 40-minute round trip, so he can download information. Right now, it's the only way he can see what orders are coming into the company website.

'Busiest time of year'

"This is the busiest time of year for the chocolate business," said Keefe. "The next three months are critical for our survival.

"We have a big Halloween following and with the supply chain kind of broken these days we are one of the few suppliers of Halloween chocolate."

This week, work crews did restore the internet connection at the local community centre in Little Harbour. It's being opened to the public for a couple of hours each day.

Both Eastlink and Bell say they are making progress, even though it is slow.

"We have brought in extra crews to help with tree trimming as well as pole and cable repair to improve restoration timelines and we are actively reaching out to customers to set earlier service appointments where possible," Bell spokesperson Katie Hatfield said in an email.

"Our timeline is constantly improving as we continue to deploy more resources to the area."