All Charlottetown schools to open, nearly 9,000 Maritime Electric customers still without power

All Charlottetown schools will be open on Friday.

"Emergency officials have deemed it safe for all Charlottetown schools to reopen," a press release from the province read Thursday afternoon.

"When possible, parents are encouraged to walk children to school or their bus stops until they are assured the route is safe," the release said. "Parents are also asked to discuss safety with their children."

The release specified the need to keep a safe distance from crews, to stay away from downed power lines and poles, to avoid playgrounds and other facilities that are closed and to take extra care when crossing roads because some traffic lights are still not operational.

On Wednesday, students who attend Donagh Regional went back to school, and Cardigan Consolidated students resumed classes in a temporary spot at Montague Regional High School.

That leaves École Évangéline in Abram-Village as the only school that will still be closed on Friday. Classes are being relocated to L'Exposition Agricole et le Festival Acadien grounds — but a start date has not yet been announced.

According to Maritime Electric, about 8,700 customers were still without power as of late Thursday afternoon, 13 days after post-tropical storm Fiona made landfall on P.E.I. and knocked out power to the entire Island

Kim Griffin, spokesperson for Maritime Electric, told Matt Rainnie on Mainstreet Thursday that the Maritime Electric Outage Map was showing slightly higher numbers Thursday that it had on Wednesday because more individual outages were found as power was restored to other areas.

"There were some fluctuations on our map today which you can imagine, you know, certainly got the attention of some of our customers and we certainly didn't mean to cause any stress if we did to people," said Griffin.

She said more than 1,000 customers in Charlottetown had their power restored Wednesday night, as well as 800 in parts of central P.E.I. and several hundred in the east.

"We're feeling it is slow going, like, we are finding some of the places we are getting to are taking a bit longer, but we are still focusing on trying to get the vast majority on by Sunday," she said.

"In the west, we started to do some individuals, so that's a good sign. And in the central and in the east, we're still focusing on a number of community little pockets, whether they be, you know, 25 here and 30 here ... so it's pretty intense going."

Crews are still battling fallen trees in some areas and haven't yet been able to to see what the damage is like in some others, Griffin said. 

"We haven't gone into cottage country, seasonal areas, we haven't even got near that yet."

Griffin said there are still about 1,000 customers in parts of Charlottetown still waiting for their power to be restored, "and then in the east there is still a fair chunk of work still happening up there."

Crews from out of province are going to stay throughout weekend with the plan of keeping them on the Island until power is fully restored, Griffin said.

"Our customers are exhausted and they just want their power back on so it's really a challenging time." Despite their frustration, Griffin said "people are still continuing to be just lovely ... just really kind people."

Police warning of a new scam

The Charlottetown Police are also warning Islanders to be on the lookout for a Fiona text scam. 

According to a media release, some Islanders have been getting texts from a number claiming to be associated with the Hurricane Fiona Relief Fund offering $250. The text includes a link to click to apply. 

However, the Red Cross, which is running the relief fund, does not send text messages directing you to apply. 

Police are asking Islanders not to click on the link. Instead, delete the message and block the number. 

Islanders can still apply for the financial support by registering with the Red Cross online or over the phone.