(Halifax) Eleven days after the post-tropical storm Fiona downed power lines at several locations in Atlantic Canada, more than 13,000 residents of Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia were still without power Wednesday night, further infuriating those affected.
Posted yesterday at 9:41 p.m.
In northern Nova Scotia, hundreds of angry residents messaged MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin earlier this week when they learned their home would not be reconnected to the power grid until next Sunday , more than two weeks after the passage of the post-tropical storm Fiona and its strong winds.
“People who are still without power are very distressed and exasperated,” Ms.me Smith-McCrossin in an interview on Tuesday.
“We have many seniors, vulnerable people and people with disabilities who have no way of communicating with people to let them know they need help and they don’t have clean water. It’s a real health and safety issue now,” she said.
Without electricity, many homes and businesses in rural Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island do not have access to running water because their well pumps are not working.
Mme Smith-McCrossin, Independent MP for Cumberland North, said she recently presented the military with a list of names and addresses of vulnerable people, and the military began checking on their welfare on Monday. However, she believes that more needs to be done.
I got hundreds of messages last night from very angry people saying ‘You have to do something’
Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin, Independent MLA
“We need more help… We need more soldiers on the ground,” they said.
Later Wednesday, the Nova Scotia government requested more support from the Canadian Armed Forces and declared a state of emergency in Cape Breton and five counties in eastern and northern Nova Scotia.
Nearly 5,000 Nova Scotia homes and businesses were still without power Wednesday evening; Another 8,100 were still in the dark in Prince Edward Island.
Heather Taves, from Stratford, Prince Edward Island, said her life has been reduced to different chores since the lights went out on September 24: looking for water, looking for food or stay an hour online with Maritime Electric,” she said in an interview on Wednesday.
His routine also includes sleeping until sunrise — to save battery power — making toast and coffee on the barbecue, watching over his older neighbors, charging his cell phone in his car, and go to the Charlottetown library with her daughter.
“Then we eat a big meal somewhere in a restaurant during the day,” the retiree said.
“When it’s nighttime, we try to heat water and eat soup. We light candles, then we read by candlelight. We go to bed very early because it’s boring and we’re tired,” she explained.
Mme Taves pointed out that the storm also hampered his efforts to start a new business.
“We are really in trouble. We cry a few times a day. The neighbors say they are crying too,” the 62-year-old drops out.
In Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Barry Haner recalls the storm flooding his basement and the electric pump he uses for his well. Since then, he has been carrying containers of water to his workplace. He said he grew tired of being told the power would be back soon, only to be told there would be another delay.
On Tuesday, he was told power would be restored on Saturday. That’s when he called Nova Scotia Power Inc., the province’s private electric utility.
“I felt bad for the person on the phone. I started the conversation by apologizing for the tone of my voice, but I was so frustrated at this point. She didn’t take it personally, but at the same time, I didn’t get any real answers to my questions,” Haner said.
He said he moved his family to a bigger home in Bible Hill 17 years ago in part because the residential village near Truro, Nova Scotia, had better services to offer, including what believed to be a more stable power grid. His family lost power for seven days after Hurricane Juan tore through the province in 2003. They didn’t want to go through that again, he said.
“It’s like adding salt to a wound,” Haner said with a laugh. I have a positive attitude. I know there are so many people who are dealing with a worse situation, with much more damage. I am with all my heart with these people, but at the same time, we live in Canada and I live in an urban area, ”he dropped with incomprehension.
In 2003, John knocked out power to 300,000 Nova Scotia homes and businesses. It took Nova Scotia Power 15 days to restore power to almost all of its customers. In 2019, it was the post-tropical storm Dorian which left 411,000 customers in the dark. At the time, the full restoration took about 10 days.
At the height of the fury of Fionaapproximately 415,000 of Nova Scotia Power’s 525,000 customers were without power.
” Fiona was described as having the power of Juan and the size of Dorian, recalled Jacquelin Forster, spokesperson for Nova Scotia Power.
“The damage is considerable. There have been thousands of fallen trees, hundreds of broken poles and washed away roads across the province,” she pointed out to illustrate the scale of the work.