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As crews continue to focus on restoring power to customers in the two regions of the province hardest hit by Fiona, some estimated restoration times have been moved out.
In Cape Breton, some of the remaining customers have seen their estimated times change to Thursday and Friday, while customers in the northeast region including Antigonish, Pictou, Colchester, and Cumberland have seen their estimated times move into the weekend.
Those customers who are now seeing restoration times moved to Sunday will be receiving a call directly from Customer Care to talk about the situation.
The majority of the remaining outages in the province are what we call ‘single outages’, which means each impact one customer. These restorations will take at least one crew to restore power for one customer, although in many cases it takes several crews and several hours to get restored.
The remaining repairs are also more complex, with crews needing to rebuild entire sections of lines and poles. Areas still need to be cleared from debris and trees, broken poles, transformers and fuses need to be replaced and crews are installing new service lines to homes.
There are also more than 2300 broken meter masts. This damage requires the homeowner to have a certified electrician make repairs before NS Power can safely restore power. We have a team in Customer Care dedicated to working directly with these customers and supporting them through the repair process.
The United Way in Halifax, Northeastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton have launched a United Hurricane Relief Fund to provide immediate relief funding to help community agencies support those impacted by Fiona. The Government of Nova Scotia is also offering disaster assistance to help with damage caused by the storm.
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COMMUNITY FINANCIAL SUPPORT
The United Way in Halifax, Northeastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton launched the United Hurricane Relief Fund, powered by a $250,000 investment from Emera Inc. and Nova Scotia Power. The fund will provide immediate relief funding to help community agencies supporting those most impacted by Hurricane Fiona.
For more information, read our news release.
An estimated time of restoration (or ETR) is our best estimate of when power will be restored.
We do our best to predict when the power will be restored during an outage, but estimated restorations times sometimes change once crews get on site and assess the damage.
Initial estimated restoration times on our outage map are based on a number of factors—weather conditions, location of the outage, suspected severity of damage, past outages in your area, and more.
Once we’re able to assess the damage and identify anything else that may impact restorations (ex: unsafe situation, blocked road), we’ll update the estimated restoration time.
The initial estimate is based on weather conditions, road and travel conditions, location of the outage and previous storm and outage historical information. As we assess damage, estimated restoration times will sometimes change based on the severity of the damage.
If your neighbour has a different restoration time than you, it’s possible that their power is supplied by a different powerline and/or a different substation or that one of you has damage requiring additional time to repair.
We know how tough it is to go days without power. One key challenge with Hurricane Fiona has been accessing the hardest hit areas. This is a huge undertaking.
Together with the Canadian Armed Forces, Department of Natural Resources and other support personnel, roads are being cleared and access to hard-to-reach areas. This allows our crews to get in, ensure the area is safe, prepped and ready to start repairing and rebuilding power lines and poles.
More than 1400 people are in the field and hundreds more behind the scenes, helping to restore your power - and more are on the way.
We do our best to predict when the power will be restored during an outage, but estimated restorations times sometimes change once crews get on site and assess the damage.
Initial estimated restoration times on our outage map are based on a number of factors – weather conditions, location of the outage, suspected severity of damage, past outages in your area, and more. Once we’re able to assess the damage and identify anything else that may impact restorations (ex: unsafe situation, unplowed road), we’ll update the estimated restoration time.
There could be localized damage impacting only your area.
Our crews will get your power back on. They have to focus first on repairs that will restore power to critical services like hospitals, police, fire, water and communications. Then, they make repairs that restore the largest number of customers in the least amount of time.
Please ensure your outage has been reported via outagemap.nspower.ca or call us to ensure we know you are still without power at 1-877-428-6004.
Damage does not have to be on your street to cause a power outage. Your power originates at a substation and, depending on where you live, that substation can be kilometers away.
If damage occurs anywhere between the substation and your residence, it can cause an outage.
With an event this large, the outage map sometimes starts grouping events together, which sometimes causes your outage to not appear on your map. If you select “Report an outage” and enter your account info, you’ll get outage info specific to your address.
With an event this large, the outage map sometimes starts grouping events together, which sometimes causes your outage to not appear on your map.
If you select “Report an outage” and enter your account info, you’ll get outage info specific to your address.
Please know that if you’ve reported your outage, we’re aware of it and our crews will do everything they can to safely restore your power as soon as possible.
We do our best to ensure the outage map is as accurate as possible, but a few things could impact the start time listed for your outage. It could be caused by a “nested outage”.
This means that your neighbourhood might be experiencing one outage, but the outage your home is experiencing is caused by a more localized issue—like a blown fuse or a tree hanging on your home’s direct power line.
We do our best to predict when the power will be restored during an outage, but estimated restorations times sometimes change once crews get on site and assess the damage.
Initial estimated restoration times on our outage map are based on a number of factors – weather conditions, location of the outage, suspected severity of damage, past outages in your area, and more. Once we’re able to assess the damage and identify anything else that may impact restorations (ex: unsafe situation, unplowed road), we’ll update the estimated restoration time.
The government of Nova Scotia has announced disaster assistance for damages related to Hurricane Fiona. $100 for every household that lost power for at least 48 hours to cover the cost of spoiled food, and $250 for every person that must pay for tree or debris removal from their property.
An additional $250 on top of the existing $750 seniors care grant to help with storm repairs. $150 to all current income assistance recipients, including Disability Support Program participants receiving income support, will cover up to $200,000 per household for non-insured losses. There is no deductible.
To help ensure your power is restored as quickly as possible during a storm, you should check for damage to your electrical equipment.
Have a look at your meter mast. It’s the tube that connects the service line to your home. Has the meter mast pulled away from your house? Is it bent or broken? If so, you’ll need a certified electrician to make repairs. We're here to help get you reconnected safely and quickly. For more information and to contact an electrician, visit our Repair a Damaged Meter page.
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For your safety and the safety of our crews, please remember these crucial safety measures:
1. Do not attempt to handle downed powerlines—they should be treated as live or energized.
2. Be aware of trees touching or tangled up in overhead lines—don’t attempt to cut them down yourself.
3. Keep a safe distance from crews working on the scene—don’t walk through or near by because it can be dangerous.
4. Stay off the road unless necessary—traffic could create more hazards to our crews and delay restoration efforts.
