Storm with high winds knocks out power to tens of thousands in Atlantic Canada
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
HALIFAX – Tens of thousands of people were without power across Atlantic Canada on Saturday after a storm with high winds pummeled the region.
Nova Scotia’s largest utility said in a statement its crews have been working through challenging conditions to restore power as winds reaching up to 110 kilometres an hour hit much of the province, causing damage Friday evening and into the early hours of Saturday.
Nova Scotia Power said hurricane-force wind gusts hit 120 kilometres an hour in parts of Cape Breton.
Pam Scully-Poirier, the utility’s storm lead, said more than 600 people are working in the field with hundreds more behind the scenes to restore power. As of 8 a.m., about 186,000 customers were in the dark. That number dropped to about 37,000 by 3:30 p.m.
“We want our customers to know we are doing everything we can to get their power back on. Along with our crews in the field, we’ll also be using a helicopter to patrol power lines in different parts of the province today to look for damage,” Scully-Poirier said in the statement.
In New Brunswick, more than 19,300 NB Power customers were without power, down from 54,000 earlier in the day.
In Newfoundland, the major utility is reporting that more than 1,500 people were in the dark by the afternoon, down from 5,000. In Prince Edward Island, Maritime Electric said the number of customers without power dropped from 1,200 to 150 by 3:30 p.m.
Environment Canada had issued weather warnings in all four provinces on Friday, saying that winds up to 100 kilometres per hour could hit Newfoundland and New Brunswick’s Fundy shore.
Wind warnings remain in place for parts of New Brunswick, much of Newfoundland and Labrador and in Quebec, where tens of thousands were also without power.
The weather agency said the storm with unseasonably warm air moving up from the south could cause snowmelt and localized flooding.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Dec. 20, 2025.