Restoring heat and light to 3,700 New Brunswick homes that lost power during last week's ice storm could be hampered by a winter blast that dumped 30 centimetres in some areas of the province overnight.
CBC reporter Shane Fowler said from Fredericton that people are going through a "collective moment of shock" Monday morning as they look out their windows and see the amount of snow in the already storm-weary province.
Emergency officials had warned the storm could put more stress on already icy trees and wires, though it wasn't yet clear early Monday if that was the case.
They are advising people to be prepared with 72 hours worth of water, food and backup heat.
Additional line and tree-trimming crews were sent to New Brunswick from the other Maritime provinces, Quebec and the United States to assist with efforts ahead of the storm. More than 200 workers are busy trying to restore electricity.
Forecasters have since lifted weather warnings for the province, except for a wind chill warning that remains in effect for northern New Brunswick.
Police are advising people to stay off the roads for their own safety, and to allow crews to clear the streets and highways.
Saint John Transit officials say the roads in the city are a mess. Most side streets have not been plowed and buses are running about 15 minutes late.
The storm affected flights as well, with some cancellations and delays in Saint John, Fredericton, Moncton, as well asHalifax.
Most of the remaining outages are in the Rothesay area with more than 2,300 customers affected, the St. Stephen area with more than 1,100 outages and on the Kingston Peninsula, according to NB Power. Fowler said it's likely the outage tally will rise as people wake up and call the utility.
Premier David Alward warned Sunday that the storm would be followed by "a significant freeze over the next two or three days, is going to test our resiliency as a province, as a people again."
82,000 without power
NB Power said that during the last week 82,000 customers — nearly a quarter of its total — have been without electricity at some point.
Some customers in the Rothesay and Quispamsis areas have been without power for more than a week.
In some cases, customers have lost power six times.
"We can certainly understand the frustration," spokesman Brent Staeben said.
"We can also certainly understand a little bit of the confusion for people in terms of how they could gain their power back and lose it again, and lose it multiple times."
Premier David Alward, centre, flanked by NB Power spokesman Brent Staeben, left, and New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization director Greg MacCallum address a news conference Sunday to gives an update on the storm recover operations. (Shane Fowler/CBC)
Greg MacCallum, director of the New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization, urged people to call their local fire department if they need anything. Warming centres will continue to be open, he said.
MacCallum said changes to emergency measures before this storm have improved local operations, but the response was complicated when cell communications were cut.
"That is something where we need to work on more redundancy and we need to find workarounds, which we are finding," MacCallum said.
He urged people to be careful with portable heaters and candles, and warned not to warm up pipes with blowtorches.
He said people should check and make sure neighbours are all right.
Warming centres busy
The power outages are keeping volunteers busy at the Quispamsis warming centre.
Almost 500 people used the service at the qplex, a 75,000 square-foot multi-purpose recreation and conference centre, to warm up, get a hot drink, check the NB Power website and charge their cellphones.
Volunteer Mary Schryer says water is one of the biggest reasons for visiting the centre.
"You know Quispamsis is dependent on ground water and when there's no power, there's no water, and that was really complicating things for a lot of people," she said.
The Quispamsis warming centre moved back to the Civic Centre on Monday morning.
Karla Brown, a volunteer at the Oak Bay warming centre at the firehall, says it has also been a busy spot, offering hot drinks and warm food.
The community response has been overwhelming, she said.
People can also pick up firewood and kerosene at the warming centres. J.D. Irving has been stocking the centres with the donated fuel.
The warming centre in Grand Bay is at St. Matthews Church. The Simonds fire hall is open in Saint John and up river, the Lower Greenwich firehall is open.
Some warming centres are open all night and are considered shelters, including the Anglican parish hall at Kingston Corner, the Lawrence Station Elementary School and St. George's Macadavic Place.
NB Power is trying to restore power to everyone by New Year's Eve.
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