Crews continue work as thousands remain without power in Arthur’s wake

HALIFAX – Thousands of customers in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have been restored to the power grid, but tens of thousands more remain without electricity four days after post-tropical storm Arthur blew through the Maritimes.

In New Brunswick, more than 43,000 customers are still without power at noon on Wednesday as utility crews continue work in the hardest hit areas in Fredericton and the southwestern part of the province.

NB Power spokeswoman Meghan Gerrish says the utility hopes to have 80 per cent of its customers back online by Thursday night, with the remainder to be restored by the weekend.

Gerrish says 275 crews are repairing damage caused by thousands of fallen trees.

Nova Scotia Power’s website says more than 4,600 customers are still without electricity, with the bulk of the outages in the Annapolis Valley.

Arthur knocked out power to more than 250,000 customers at the height of Saturday’s storm.