The following is a press release issued by Nova Scotia Power earlier today:
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Nova Scotia Power is ramping up the biggest pre-storm mobilization of personnel and resources in the company’s history in advance of a severe winter storm that is forecast to bring hurricane force winds to Nova Scotia tomorrow. This is a bigger storm than the one that hit last week. The wind predictions are stronger, gusting up to 140 kilometres per hour, and more sustained, plus there is snow and rain on the front end.
It’s never easy dealing with back to back storms, but we’ve been in this situation before and we’ll be ready to safely respond as quickly as possible. We are calling in crews from as far away as Hydro Quebec. By tomorrow, we will have more than 1,000 people dedicated to storm response, including frontline crews, damage assessors, planners, engineers, support staff, and customer care representatives.
Crews will begin restoring power as soon as it’s safe to do so, but when winds are gusting above 80 km/h, they have to make on-site assessments of whether to stand down for safety. Restorations may not be able to begin until winds subside on Friday.
Customers should be prepared for power outages lasting through the weekend, and perhaps into early next week. Freezing temperatures are predicted, so please plan for the safety of yourself and your family. Your safety is the number one priority. If you see a downed wire, please stay away and report it to us at 1-877-428-6004. If you are concerned about an immediate public or personal safety risk, please call 911.
We are opening our four payment depots in Kentville, Chester, Stellarton and Shelburne, as well as our head office in Halifax, as comfort centres from 8 AM to 8 PM beginning Thursday and through to the end of outage restoration.
§ Kentville — 3 Calkin Dr
§ Chester — 96 Valley Rd
§ Stellarton — 26 Bridge Ave
§ Shelburne — 261 Ohio Rd
§ Halifax – 1223 Lower Water St
Please see the attached Media Release for full details.
As always, our number one priority remains the safety of our crews and customers. Our Customer Care Centre will be in touch with customers on our Critical Customer list. Please consider whether you should add yourself to this list.
In the event of an outage, customers are encouraged to visit our outage page http://outagemap.nspower.ca for updates on estimated restoration times. They can also call our outage line 24/7 at 1-877-428-6004 or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.