Nova Scotia Power responding to winter storm

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Power continues to respond to the impacts of a winter storm that brought a mix of heavy, wet snow, high winds and rain, causing widespread outages over the last 24 hours across the province. 

Crews have been working to restore power throughout the high winds overnight and into this morning.  As of 11am, crews have safely restored power to 84% of all customers who lost service.

“We have around 400 people – powerline technicians, forestry works, damage assessors and others – on the ground across the province responding to this storm,” said Sean Borden, Nova Scotia Power Storm Lead. “We also have hundreds more working behind the scenes to support restoration efforts. Our teams and crews will continue to work to restore power safely and as quickly as possible.”

The heavy, wet snow and high winds broke power poles and caused trees and branches to fall onto power lines resulting in outages. Road conditions have also meant slow travelling for some of our crews in areas such as the Annapolis Valley and Amherst.

In the western part of the province areas like Clare, Digby, Bridgetown, Kingston and Coldbrook were particularly hard hit by significant amounts of heavy snow combined with high winds overnight. The Eastern Shore and Cape Breton saw some of the highest winds in the province at over 100 km/hr.

Nova Scotia Power activated its Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Friday morning ahead of the storm. The EOC provides a central place to coordinate restoration and response planning and work closely with the Nova Scotia Emergency Management Office (EMO). The EOC is staffed with employees from all parts of the company. It will stay in place until the last customer is safely restored.

Restoration Phases

Power is restored in a specific order once the storm has passed - starting with any emergency safety concerns. It is then restored to the substations and main power lines that bring electricity from power plants to our towns and cities.  Critical services identified by the provincial EMO, like hospitals, police, fire, water and communications is next.  Then crews move to power lines that will restore power to the greatest number of customers in the least amount of time (ie. high density buildings or neighbourhoods).  Once these repairs are made, crews focus on smaller groups of customers and individuals.

Outage Information

Customers can report outages and get estimated restoration times online at outagemap.nspower.ca or by calling 1-877-428-6004.  

QUICK FACTS

• heavy, wet snow and high winds can break power poles and cause trees and branches to fall onto power lines causing outages;
• the impact can vary depending on strength of the wind, how long it lasts and how fast the system moves across a region/province; 
• crews stand down when winds reach 80km/hour until it is safe to go back up in the buckets;

• the impact can also be felt after snow melts and trees spring back up from the weight of the snow;
• if a customer’s electrical equipment is damaged – such as a meter mast –  they need a certified electrician to make repairs before NS Power can safely restore power;
• customers are encouraged to be prepared and can find safety tips at www.nspower.ca/stormready