 Media crews prepare for Earl’s arrival in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. (QMI Agency/Daniel Mallard)
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SHELBURNE, N.S. – Thousands of Nova Scotians remain without power after tropical storm Earl felled trees and downed power lines.
Almost 200,000 customers were without electricity across the province late Saturday.
Stacey Pineau, a spokeswoman for Nova Scotia Power, said fallen branches were the main cause of outages sweeping the province, and customers could have a long wait before their electricity is switched back on.
"In this case, it’s looking like a good possibility it will go into Monday,” she said.
"Our crews are working as quickly as they can and they’ve been working in pretty horrible weather.”
Rain has stopped in most parts of the province, but strong winds continue to plague certain areas.
Krista Higdon, a spokeswoman from the province’s emergency management services, said many of the closed roads were re-opening Saturday, but a full clean-up could take a while.
"There are a lot of fallen tree branches and uprooted trees, and those are on power lines,” she said. “That’s really the time-consuming part of things.”
At least one fatality has been linked to the storm. Johnny Mitchell Jr., 54, died in Blind Bay, near Bayside, when he tried to retrieve a boat that had come loose from its mooring.
Earl made landfall near the Shelburne County on 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 kilometres per hour.
Peak waves of 14 metres washed along the province’s Atlantic shore, arriving well after the storm’s core had passed.
Still, some Nova Scotians were left wondering what all the fuss was about.
"The sun’s breaking through right now,” said Glen Dunn midday Saturday.
The head of the Wharf Rat Rally, a motorbike get-together in Digby, N.S., he defied warnings and refused to cancel the six-day long event.
His western N.S. town experienced wind and rain all morning, but saw none of the threatened tide surges or massive waves. On some beaches, surfers and kite-flyers braved the weather.
"It was the storm that didn’t happen,” Dunn said. “The rain has stopped. It’s clear and will be clear for days.”
Hurricane watches and tropical storm warnings have been lifted across the province.
The storm is now roaring its way towards Newfoundland, said Bill Appleby, with the Canadian Hurricane Centre.
Appleby said Quebec should brace for 35 to 50 millimetres of rain as the storm system continues moving northeast.
New Brunswick was swept by 40 to 75 mm of rain. About 1,000 N.B. residents in were without power Saturday evening.
Flights are beginning to resume across the Maritime provinces.
