Thousands remain without power in Nova Scotia after weekend ice storm

More than 5,000 Nova Scotia Power customers were still without electricity Monday evening, some of whom have been waiting for restoration in below-freezing temperatures since Friday when an ice storm swept across the province.

Sonya Whiffen lives on Beachmont Road just outside of Sydney, N.S. She, her husband and their four dogs have been without power since Friday evening around 9 p.m. local time.

She said she has "lost faith" in Nova Scotia Power's restoration efforts. She said the restoration time for her area has moved half a dozen times since Friday. 

"I know Nova Scotia Power is working around the clock and all that but when they give you an estimate time, you know, I don't think they should be doing that because they give people hope," said Whiffen.

The outages are scattered through mainland Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island, although there are few in the most southern and northern reaches of the province.

Many of the thousands still waiting are being told not to expect power back until Monday night, in some cases as late as 11 p.m.

Tree trimming

Whiffen said she knows the power outage was caused by an "act of God," but she said if the trees were trimmed around the lines near her house, this wouldn't have happened. 

"I think that they would have came up with some trimming on these trees a few years back. I don't think we would have a problem here," she said.

Whiffen said her area, where she's lived for about five years, loses power often.

She said she's worried about her freezer full of food and her pipes freezing. Thankfully, her son was able to bring her a generator to run an electric fireplace but it's still cold in her house.  

"I know it's an act of God and stuff here, but they need to be working on this a lot faster than what they're doing."

The current estimate to restore power to Beachmont Road is between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Some schools closed

At its peak, about 53,000 customers were without power after a powerful, slow-moving ice storm battered parts of the province with freezing rain Friday and into Saturday.

Schools in the Annapolis Valley Regional Centre for Education were open Monday, however buses were not running because of ice that had accumulated on bus roofs.

Schools in the Cape Breton-Victoria Regional Centre for Education were also open Monday, but most buses were not on the roads so students were asked to find their own way to school. Only buses north of Smokey were running.

Both Hants North Rural High and Kennetcook District School dismissed students early on Monday because there was no heat in those buildings.

CBC meteorologist Tina Simpkin said the freezing temperatures will finally begin to rise Monday afternoon.

However, Environment Canada has most of the province's Atlantic coast, as well as parts of central and eastern Nova Scotia, under a rainfall warning with 25 to 75 millimetres of rain expected to begin early Tuesday morning.

Localized flooding in low-lying areas is possible.

Cape Breton can expect a mix of snow and rain Tuesday. There are wind warnings for Guysborough County and Cape Breton with gusts up to 90 km/h.