'It's country life': Couple, aged 92 and 89, hunker down for storm
Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon | CBC News | Posted: January 5, 2018 8:08 PM | Last Updated: January 5, 2018
Leandre and Annie Savoie of Neguac area were well-prepared for 'weather bomb'
Leandre Savoie, 92, cut plenty of firewood, and his wife, Annie, 89, kept the wood-fired range stoked in their northern New Brunswick home in preparation for Thursday's storm.
They stocked up on food and water and hunkered down for the "weather bomb" that closed highways and knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses across the province.
"It's country life," said their 50-year-old son, Stéphane Savoie, who lives with them in Allainville, a small community near the village of Neguac, north of Miramichi, joking "it's a debate who's looking after who."
- Weather blast leaves thousands without power, but crews make progress
- Here are the areas hit hardest by snow, rain and wind in Thursday's storm
- New Brunswick Storm Centre
Stéphane made the 45-minute drive home from his office in Bathurst in his white Honda Civic in near whiteout conditions and got up at 4 a.m. Friday to snowblow before the estimated seven inches (about 17 centimetres) of snow that fell got too heavy from the rain or froze.
"I guess we're kind of hardy and tough. We take it in our stride."
The Savoies survived six days without electricity during last year's major ice storm, using generators to keep their fridge, freezer and lights running, but they didn't lose power Thursday.
Others weren't as lucky. As of about 2 p.m. Friday, NB Power crews were still working to restore power to more than 4,000 customers on the Acadian Peninsula, in Chaleur and the Northumberland-Miramichi area.
Mother Nature isn't co-operating. Bathurst and the Chaleur region, Campbellton and Restigouche County and Edmundston and Madawaska County all remain under winter storm warnings, according to Environment Canada.
"Hazardous winter conditions are expected," the advisories state.
Conditions are "gradually improving," but snow and blowing snow are expected to persist into the early evening in areas bordering Quebec, the weather agency advises.
CBC meteorologist Jay Scotland said strong winds are forecast to continue to batter the region with gusts of 70 km/h to 100 km/h.
Samantha Charest of Lorne was staying put for the day.
She works at the Campbellton Nursing Home, about an hour's drive away, and Highway 11 was closed Friday morning.
Her vehicle was also buried in snow.
"This is the worst storm I have seen," Charest said.
Doug Trevors of Miramichi said the snow picked up there again Friday morning, and the temperature was dropping.
"Sure to make driving tricky," he posted on Twitter.
"Miramichi Police Force is asking motorists to stay home and stay off the streets if possible to give crews a chance to clear the snow," he tweeted.
"Spring is only about 75 days away."