UPDATE, 8:15 a.m., Nov. 30: Power has been restored to the majority of Pictou County now, but there are still more than 2,000 NS Power companies in the province without electricity. Provincially, over 14,000 customers don't have power. Environment Canada is calling for flurries for Pictou County today.
“Restorations have been particularly challenging in the northeastern area of the province where crews have been dealing with trees contacting power lines and downed wires,” said Sean Borden, Nova Scotia Power Storm Lead in a press release. “We will be updating estimated restoration times throughout the day as crews are able to safely access outage locations and assess damage and required repairs.”
Nova Scotia Power stated that it has more than 500 people dedicated to storm response, including power line technicians, damage assessment teams, tree crews, and other frontline workers, plus a full complement of people working behind the scenes.
UPDATE, 3 P.M.: More than 15,000 NS Power customers in Pictou County are still without power. Power isn't expected to return until 11:30 p.m. for many of the affected areas. Business that had backup generators were busy with customers looking for coffee and gas this morning. Across the province there are still more than 80,000 customers without power.
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PICTOU COUNTY – Thousands of Pictou County residents woke up in the dark after high winds caused power outages throughout the region.
According to the Nova Scotia Power outage map, Pictou County is among the hardest-hit areas of the province, with 22,286 customers in Stellarton and the surrounding area without power. In the Toney River/River John area, another 1,137 homes and businesses are in the dark.
According to Nova Scotia Power, the cause of the outage is the high winds and snow pummeling the area, with outages beginning around 4 a.m. Nov. 29. The estimated time for restoration is not until 11:30 p.m.
As of 9:15 a.m., across the province there were 211,900 customers impacted by outages.
The weather has caused schools to be cancelled throughout the county, as well as many businesses and organizations opting to remain closed as well.
Pictou County remains under a winter storm warning, with hazardous winter conditions expected. A major low pressure system tracking towards the region stalled southeast of Cape Breton overnight. Rain associated with the low began last evening and changed over to snow overnight and was expected to become mixed at times with rain throughout the day.
The low will also bring strong northeasterly winds gusting up to 100 kilometres per hour during the day on Thursday. Conditions should begin to improve tonight into Friday as the snow tapers to scattered flurries and winds diminish.
Near 20 to 25 centimetres of snow is forecast with this storm, with lesser amounts likely along north facing coasts.
Read Cindy Day’s latest forecast here:
Please note that due to the inclement weather, delivery of the New Glasgow News may also be delayed in some areas.
