NS Power Hurricane Fiona Update

Storm response efforts continue to ramp up as more crews and damage assessors arrive to support teams in the Northeast region and Cape Breton.  The focus continues to be on getting to those hardest hit areas in order to assess the damage, rebuild and repair lines and poles, and restore power to customers.  

“The support on the ground continues to grow and we appreciate the assistance from other utilities, the Canadian Armed Forces, Department of Natural Resources and other support personnel,” said Lia MacDonald, Northeast Region Emergency Operations Centre Lead. “We now have more than 1500 people in the field across the province, and hundreds more behind the scenes working to support our customer and crews. The size of this response effort reflects the magnitude of Fiona and the extent of damage left behind.”

In addition to the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) in Halifax, there are two satellite EOC – one in Truro and one in Sydney – to continue coordinating plans and resources for those regions. 

Crews continue to deal with thousands of downed trees, hundreds of broken poles and downed lines due to falling trees, trees on power lines, as well as blocked or washed out roads.  We are making progress with restoration, but it does take time to work through damage of this extent.  While we expect the majority of customers to get their power back by Friday, in light of the extreme damage in some areas, there will be customers who will be out into the weekend and some next week.

QUICK FACTS:

• About 415,000 customers lost power during Fiona, as of 10am today (Thursday), more than 335,000 have been restored.
• In addition to the provincial Emergency Operations Centre in Halifax, there are two satellite EOC – Truro and Sydney - command centres where we continue to coordinate local plans and resources for the regions.
• There is also a satellite Emergency Operations Centre in Sydney - a command centre where we continue to coordinate plans and resources for Cape Breton.
• More than 65,000 customers have been affected in this region.  As of this morning (Thursday), approximately 60% of customers in Cape Breton have been restored.
  

HRM (Halifax/Dartmouth/Sackville/Bedford/Windsor/Musquodoboit/Chester)

• There are over 400 people on the ground in this region including power line technicians, forestry technicians, damage assessors and field support.
• Damage in HRM is due primarily to trees coming into contact with power lines, downed lines due to falling trees and trees on roads limiting and making travel difficult for our crews.
• More than 210,000 customers have been affected in this region.  As of this morning (Thursday), 98% of customers in HRM have been restored.

WESTERN (Annapolis Valley/Yarmouth/South Shore)

• There are still lots of lines and wires down.  For your own safety please treat them as if they are energized. Stay back the length of a bus and call us and report it right away (1-877-428-6004).
• 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.  A list of electrical contractors can be found in link provided.

• We encourage customers to watch the outage map for the latest information on their outage:  outagemap.nspower.ca
  

NORTHEAST (Truro/Pictou/Amherst/Antigonish/Guysborough)

• There are over 600 people on the ground in the northeast region including power line technicians, forestry technicians, damage assessors and field support.
• We have set up a satellite Emergency Operations Centre in Truro – a command centre where we will continue to coordinate plans and resources for the Northeast region of the province.
• Together with the Canadian Armed Forces we have set up a staging site in Pictou County to support our restoration efforts.  This is where we coordinate and dispatch crews – a one stop shop for materials, fuel and food.
  
• The Canadian Armed Forces and Department of Natural Resources personnel are in the region helping crews remove trees and brush and running supplies.
• We are doing foot patrols and using ATVs to continue assessing the severity of the damage caused by the storm in off-road/ hard to access areas.
• Damage in this region is due primarily to broken poles and downed lines from falling trees, trees on power lines, and trees on roads limiting access and making travel difficult for our crews.
• About 90,000 customers have been affected in this region.  As of this morning (Thursday), approximately 60% of customers in the northeast have been restored.
  

CAPE BRETON

• There are over 500 people on the ground in Cape Breton including powerline technicians, forestry technicians, damage assessors and field support.
• Together with the Canadian Armed Forces we have set up a staging site in Sydney to support our restoration efforts.  This is where we coordinate and dispatch crews – a one stop shop for materials, fuel and food.
• The Canadian Armed Forces and Department of Natural Resources personnel are also on the ground in Cape Breton helping crews remove trees and brush and running supplies.
• The most significant damage was in the eastern part of the province including the Eastern Shore and Cape Breton. 
• We continue to assess the severity of the damage and are gaining more access to some of the hardest hit areas.  We are using drones again today to continue assessing damage in off-road/ hard to access areas.
• Damage in Cape Breton is due primarily to hundreds of broken poles and downed lines due to falling trees, trees on power lines, washed out roads limiting access and making it difficult for our crews to move around.
• The main cause of outages in the western region is trees coming into contact with power lines.
• Over 50,000 customers have been affected in the western region.  We are completing final restorations in this area.
• As the remaining customers are restored, we will be moving crews east to help with efforts in other regions.

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About Nova Scotia Power

Nova Scotia Power Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Emera Inc. (TSX-EMA), a diversified energy and services company. Nova Scotia Power provides 95% of the generation, transmission and distribution of electrical power to more than 525,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers across Nova Scotia. The company is focused on new technologies to enhance customer service and reliability, reduce emissions and add renewable energy. Nova Scotia Power has over 1,700 employees and $4.1 billion in operating assets. Learn more at www.nspower.ca.


Media Contact:

Jacqueline Foster

NSP Senior Communications Advisor 902-225-4735

Jacqueline.foster@nspower.ca