It has been a cold and dark few days for some New Brunswick residents.
Four days after a massive wind and rain storm Monday knocked out power for about 50,000 N.B. Power customers, some outages still remain.
Terry McPhee, who lives in Nerepis, northwest of Saint John, lost his power around 8 a.m. Monday, and it stayed out for 52 hours, before being restored Wednesday afternoon.
“No shower. No washroom facilities,” he said, recalling the last few days.
“Six or eight hours is one thing. It’s not too bad when it’s daylight, but when it’s minus three, minus something, at nighttime, it gets really rough.”
McPhee said it’s common for him to lose power with winds and rain, but he hasn’t lost it for this long since 2014, when his power went out for five days.
An N.B. Power spokesperson said in an email that restoration efforts continued overnight, and 99 per cent of customers had their power back. Fewer than 200 customers were still without power as of Thursday afternoon.
Restoration estimations on the utility’s website as of Thursday morning show that most customers should have power back by 8 p.m.
Troy Gautreau, the fire chief and director of the Emergency Management Organization for Grand Bay-Westfield, said that after the storm, there were sections of road where a tree would be lying on a line every 50 to 100 feet (about 15 to 30 metres).
Gautreau said the town opened some warming and comfort centres, and Tuesday was the busiest day for them.
He said the town often does this after storms, and people are more likely to come to the centre to warm up and charge their devices if it’s a weekend and they don’t have to work.
Gautreau said he’s noticed more people have generators now as well, and with the heart of winter approaching, he cautions residents to think about safety when using them.
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He said it’s common for people to want to run their generators in a shed or garage, so they don’t have to refill them outside during a storm.
“In an enclosed space, you end up with carbon monoxide issues, which is odourless, colourless. So next thing you know, we’re receiving calls for people who are having severe headaches or very weak or, in the worst-case scenario, unconscious.”
With files from Information Morning Saint John
This story was originally published in CBC News on Dec. 14, 2023.
Hannah Rudderham Portfolio 