 Billy Tanner from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia looks at damaged tree fallen close to his house after the passage of tropical storm Earl, Saturday september 4, 2010.(Daniel Mallard/Journal De Quebec/QMI Agency)
|
MONTREAL – Hurricane Earl finally fizzled out completely north of Newfoundland, but cleanup will continue for days across Nova Scotia.
Thousands of customers are still without power in Nova Scotia, after the storm dealt a glancing blow to the Maritime province.
Nova Scotia Power spokeswoman Stacey Pineau said Sunday the utility company had about 200 crews working on restoring electricity.
“We’re making some good progress,” she said. “We’re looking at most of the customers having power back (Sunday).”
A few residents may still be without power into early next week, she noted.
The cleanup is not without risk. A utility worker was injured Saturday evening while repairing one of the lines.
“One of our employees received a minor shock while working on a line,” Pineau said, adding the man received medical treatment on site and was back at work Sunday.
Nova Scotia emergency services are asking residents to drive with care due to damaged trees and downed lines, but spokeswoman Tara Walsh said the province is mopping up quickly.
“The cleanup efforts are progressing really, really well,” she said Sunday.
Essential services had their power restored by Sunday afternoon and much of the debris had been cleared from the roads.
During the peak of the storm, more than 200,000 customers were without power in the province. Outages were also reported in P.E.I., Quebec and New Brunswick.
Hurricane Earl also took one life in the province.
A 54-year-old man drowned near Bayside, N.S., when he tried to retrieve a boat that had come loose from its mooring in the churning waves.
"Like all Nova Scotians, I was extremely saddened to learn of this death," said Emergency Management Minister Ramona Jennex in a statement.
"On behalf of the province, my deepest condolences go out to the family of this individual.”
Earl made landfall near the southern tip of Nova Scotia mid-morning Saturday as a Category 1 hurricane, hitting Halifax and its surrounding regions with gusts of up to 130 km/h.
Winds churned up the Halifax Harbour, creating waves that reached over 23 metres high. Rain and high winds across the province flooded roads, grounded flights and damaged trees before moving into New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and touching parts of eastern Quebec and western Newfoundland.
Nova Scotia beaches remained closed Sunday, made dangerous by lingering high winds and increased swells.
