Thousands still without power as post-tropical storm Lee exits Maritimes

globalnews.ca:

reporting more than 33,000 customers were still without power, and NB Power was reporting over 3,000 customers in the dark.“This morning, our day crews are back out across the province assessing damage, removing trees from lines and repairing equipment,” read a social media post from Nova Scotia Power.The electrical utility said about 277,000 customers experienced outages since the storm’s arrival.“Crews were able to restore power to approximately 170,000 customers and we expect to get a significant amount more back on today,” the statement said.“Damage from the tropical storm force winds and heavy rain ranges from broken power poles and uprooted trees, to downed power lines, localized flooding, and road closures.”Nova Scotia Power has begun operating helicopters and drones throughout the province to assist with damage assessment during their restoration process.Matt Drover, storm lead for Nova Scotia Power, said despite not having an estimate for full restoration, a “significant” number of customers should regain power on Sunday.“Our goal (to restore power) is as soon as possible, we know how impactful this is for everybody, we’re working around the clock,” he said during an interview with Global News, adding that more than 800 employees are currently working to restore power throughout the province.“We know it will be a few days … however, we will see a significant number restored today.

Tomorrow will be a big day as well.”Drover said when mass power outages occur, Nova Scotia Power prioritizes responding to bigger outages that impact the highest number of customers and then begin to work through smaller communities, streets, and then individual customers that are still without electricity.“That’ll be where we are