Power outage affects tens of thousands Canadians as storm Lee makes exit

Waves crash on the breakwater along the waterfront in Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada, on Sept. 16, 2023. (Nova Scotia Government/Handout via Xinhua)

Winds were still gusting up to 70 kph in some areas of mainland Nova Scotia on Sunday morning as the storm slowly moved out in a northeasterly direction and into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

OTTAWA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Tens of thousands of people across the eastern Canadian province of Nova Scotia have been affected by power outages as post-tropical storm Lee made its exit, provincial agencies said on Sunday.

In its latest update, Nova Scotia Power, a provincial electric utility, said that at least 277,000 people were affected by power outages throughout the storm that began blowing through the region Friday evening.

"Amid challenging conditions Saturday, crews restored power to about 170,000 of them and we expect to get a significant amount more back on today (Sunday)," it said.

The surf throws rocks on the road near Queensland, Nova Scotia, Canada, on Sept. 16, 2023. (Nova Scotia Government/Handout via Xinhua)

Massive winds impacted the province through Saturday with winds blowing over 90 kph in most areas of the province and over 125 kph in the metro area.

As storm Lee hit the province, limbs and branches fell onto power lines, and in some cases, whole trees were uprooted, the utility said.

Winds were still gusting up to 70 kph in some areas of mainland Nova Scotia on Sunday morning as the storm slowly moved out in a northeasterly direction and into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, local media reported.

In New Brunswick, another Canadian province, more than 11,000 people were without power on Sunday morning, and more than 300 with Prince Edward Island's Maritime Electric were waiting for their power to be restored, said the reports. ■