Nova Scotia Power restores service to about 85 per cent of customers

As of Wednesday morning, Nova Scotia Power crews had restored service to approximately 85 per cent of the more than 400,000 customers who lost power due to hurricane Dorian.

“We’ve made considerable progress, but there is still much work to be done,” said Karen Hutt, president and CEO of Nova Scotia Power, in a media release.

“Our people on the front lines continue to be uplifted and inspired by the kind words and actions of our customers as they move from community to community restoring power.”

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According to Nova Scotia Power, the company has 368 power line crews, 81 forestry crews and 67 damage assessment teams dedicated to the restoration effort. This includes crews from New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Quebec, Maine and Florida.

Hutt said additional resources arrive each day.

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Nova Scotia Power is also working with the Nova Scotia Emergency Management Office to prioritize restoration to critical infrastructure, and the Canadian Armed Forces are helping remove trees and debris, which have taken down power lines and broken poles.

The Halifax Regional Municipality is also stepping up to help by imposing targeted restrictions in peninsular Halifax to facilitate tree removal operations in the area.

HRM said the work will begin on Thursday and will continue until the work is completed.

The restrictions affect the following streets:

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Nova Scotia Power said in a statement that many of the repairs are complex. Damage includes an estimated 7,000 instances of lines broken by trees or having trees leaning on them as well as 375 broken or leaning poles.

While the majority of customers who lost power as a result of Dorian will have that power restored by end of day Wednesday, there remain complex outages that will take more time and effort to restore.

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Some single-customer outages now have an estimated restoration date of Thursday or Friday. Nova Scotia Power will be contacting customers who have had their restoration times changed.

“We know it has been frustrating for customers to be without power,” Hutt said. “We’ve mobilized the largest storm response in our company’s history, and the crews are making steady progress despite the many challenges. We won’t stop until the job is done.”