5,000 households waiting for power more than 3 days after storm
Elizabeth Fraser | CBC News | Posted: November 7, 2018 10:06 AM | Last Updated: November 8, 2018
110 km/h winds knocked out power to more than 97,000 households across the province
The scope of power outages has been reduced to about 5,000 households across New Brunswick — a significant drop since Tuesday.
About 2,000 of those customers are in the Fredericton area.
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Parts of the province were hit with 110-kilometre-an-hour winds Saturday night, and power was knocked out to more than 97,000 households.
Throughout most of the day Tuesday, about 21,000 customers were without power, which later dropped to about 14,000 Tuesday evening.
"Yesterday we made some pretty significant progress," said Marc Belliveau, a spokesperson for NB Power.
Throughout the day, 250 crews with NB Power were restoring power across the province with additional crews from outside the province, including Nova Scotia and Quebec.
"It's all dependent on when they can release their own crews to come here," he said.
"It's quite a dance."
More power crews on the way
Belliveau said the utility will get another 30 crews from neighbouring jurisdictions on Wednesday.
"We'll certainly be on the ground today looking at getting the vast majority of that 8,100 all done today," he said.
However, Belliveau said there might be a few rural areas that won't get power back until Thursday, because power lines are in areas that are harder for crews to access.
"When we're restoring power we're always looking at where can we get the most back on right now?" he said.
"There's a prioritization sequence."
Belliveau said the biggest issue crews have been dealing with during this week's outage are the dozens of trees and branches that have broken and fallen on power lines, particularly in the Fredericton area.
"That requires far more work on our part because you need to bring out chainsaws, heavy equipment, restring wires," he said.
"It's really, really much more complicated than other storms that aren't as violent."
If residents see any downed lines, they should stay at least 10 metres away from them and anything touching them, such as trees, which could still be energized, NB Power said.
"If there is a tree on lines near your property, never attempt to prune or remove these trees. Direct or indirect contact with a power line can be fatal. Please make sure to call us or report it through our website."
Residents are also advised to keep generators some distance from their homes and not inside.
Warming stations still set up
Warming and charging stations are still set up across the province.
Kent region
- Saint-Louis-de-Kent, Centre Aqua-Kent, 33, du Collège St., Saint-Louis de Kent – showers available
- Bouctouche, J.K. Irving Centre, 30 Évangéline St., – showers available
- Rexton Curling Club, 49 Centennial West Ave., warming/charging noon – 9 p.m.
Miramichi region
- Upper Miramichi Fire Department, 6327 Route 8, Boiestown – open until this evening.
- Upper Miramichi Municipal Office, 6094 Route 8, Boiestown – showers available – open until this evening
- Blackville Fire Hall, 54 Main St., Blackville – open until 10 p.m.
- Prospect Place Arena, 22 Prospect St., Doaktown – open until 10 p.m.
- Golden Hawk Recreation Centre, 8 Pollard Blvd., Miramichi – open until 9 p.m. – showers available
Moncton/Westmorland region
- Hillsborough Village Office, 2849 Main St., Unit 1, Hillsborough – charging station only
- Riverside-Albert Village Office, 5823 King St., Riverside-Albert – charging station only
- Alma Activity Centre, 8 School St., Alma – charging station only
- Town of Riverview Fire Station, 650 Pinewood Rd., Riverview – light refreshments, open until 7 p.m.
- Dieppe Aquatic and Sports Centre, 111 Aquatique St., Dieppe – showers available
- Forest Dale Home, 5836 King St., Riverside-Albert – refreshments available – open until 4 p.m.
- Port Elgin Fire Hall, 41 East Main St., Port Elgin – open until 9 p.m.
Fredericton region
- Salvation Army, 531 St. Mary's St., Fredericton – charging station only
- Hanwell Municipal Office, 5-1757 Route 640, Hanwell – charging station only
- St. James Presbyterian Church, 1991 Highway 640, Hanwell – charging station only, serving refreshments, open until 8 p.m.
- Willie O'Ree Place, Mabie Lane, Fredericton – showers available
- Grant Harvey Centre, 600 Knowledge Park Dr., Fredericton – showers available
- Fredericton YMCA, 570 York St., Fredericton – showers available
- Upper Nashwaak Lions Club, 1284 Route 107, Stanley – charging station only
- Nashwaak Villa, 67 Lime Kiln Rd., Stanley
- Estey's Bridge Community Centre, 1388 Route 620 Highway, Fredericton – charging station only
- Fredericton Junction Fire Department, 102 Wilsey Rd. Fredericton Junction – open until 5 p.m.
- Rusagonis Community Centre, 1609 Post Rd. – open until 3 p.m.
- New Maryland Fire Department, 584 New Maryland Hwy, New Maryland – open until 9 p.m.
- Chipman Fire Department, 10 Civic Court, Unit 1, Chipman – open until 5 p.m.
- Minto Fire Department 191 Main Street – open until 4 p.m.
- Jemseg Lions Club, 2 Route 695, Jemseg – open until 10 p.m. – charging station only
- Municipal Building, 4 Doyle Dr., Oromocto – open until 4 p.m. – charging station only
- Lincoln Baptist Church, 2275 Route 102 – charging station only
- Harvey Fire Department, 2234 Highway 3, Harvey Station – showers available – open from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
Fundy region
- Town Hall of Grand Bay-Westfield, 609 River Valley Dr. – open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Musquash Fire Hall, 35 Malcolm Meehan Rd., Musquash 5 p.m. - 9 p.m.
- Fire Hall 1270 Route 790, Dipper Harbour – 5 p.m. - 9 p.m.
- Quispamsis Civic Centre, 12 Civic Dr., Quispamsis – open 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.