NB Power says customers who lost power in the latest storm should be prepared for prolonged outages, according to the utility.
The utility reported more than 1,300 outages impacting 73,900 customers as of 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Outages are spread throughout the province, though southwestern and western regions are among the hardest hit.
- Central York/Sunbury: 32,227 customers; 525 outages
- Charlotte/Southwest: 13,990 customers; 297 outages
- Carleton: 9,013 customers; 130 outages
- Victoria/Madawaska: 6,258 customers; 72 outages
- Moncton/Riverview/Dieppe: 3,454 customers; 40 outages
- Kings/Queens: 3,231 customers; 99 outages
- Shediac/Cap-Pele: 2,734 customers; 52 outages
- Kent: 1,026 customers; 44 outages
- Sackville/Port Elgin: 862 customers; 27 outages
- Kennebecasis Valley/Fundy: 502 customers; 46 outages
- Northumberland/Miramichi: 333 customers; 26 outages
- Chaleur: 30 customers; 10 outages
Vice-president Nicole Poirier said Tuesday afternoon that it is too soon to say how long some New Brunswickers may remain without power.
Poirier said their initial focus is restoring power to critical services such as hospitals, police, fire, water and communication systems.
“Once that is complete, we’ll make repairs that will return service to the largest number of customers in the least amount of time, such as high-density housing and large neighbourhoods,” said Poirier.
From there, teams will work to restore power to smaller neighbourhoods and individual customers.
Poirier said more than 700 people are supporting restoration efforts, including additional contractor crews.
“For each of the outages, a team has to assess the damage and then make the necessary repairs. In some cases, one, two or three vehicles may be needed in order to make repairs,” she said.
Poirier said early assessments show extensive damage in various areas of the province, which includes trees on their infrastructure and power lines down.
Charlotte County Hospital impacted
Power outages are having an impact on the Charlotte County Hospital in St. Stephen.
Saint Croix MLA Kathy Bockus says the generator failed, but a backup generator is on its way and NB Power is making the facility a priority.
In a post on social media, she says maintenance is working on the existing generator. She adds no patients will be moved.
High winds and heavy rain tore through the province on Monday, leaving behind a trail of destruction in its wake.
Wind gusts as high as 100 kilometres per hour toppled trees and even tore roofs off of some buildings.
Several roads are closed as of Tuesday morning. You can find the updated list through New Brunswick 511.
According to Environment Canada, this latest system brought some record-breaking temperatures, with highs of 15°C reached in some regions.
There was lots of heavy rain as well. St. Stephen recorded over 64 millimetres, the Moncton region got over 36 millimetres, and Saint John registered 17 millimetres.
