New Brunswickers assess the damage left in Lee's wake, thousands without power
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As Sunday morning hit in New Brunswick, municipal crews and homeowners alike were out surveying the damage from post-tropical storm Lee.
Power crews were still working to restore power to thousands who were without. By 6 a.m. Sunday, there were still about 12,000 N.B. Power customers waiting for power, down from a storm peak of about 38,000.
The utility estimates that some customers will have to wait until Monday evening before their power is restored. The latest restoration times can be found online.
"As customer outages are restored in some communities, crews are being relocated where they are most needed. Rest assured, we have crews in every district to respond to outages," the utility said in a statement Sunday morning.
In all, N.B. Power said about 88,000 customers were impacted at some point during the storm.
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Lee, meanwhile, left New Brunswick and passed over Prince Edward Island overnight. The storm is currently in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and making its way toward Newfoundland, with the eye expected to make landfall on the western coast around 9 p.m.
Communities along the Bay of Fundy felt some of the strongest gusts and rain on Saturday as Lee's eye made its way across the southeastern corner of New Brunswick.
Trees, branches and power lines fell, some onto roads, but most have been cleared.
The cleanup continues in the province's capital, which saw torrential rain and localized flooding. Some low-lying Fredericton streets filled with water, splashing as high as vehicles' front bumpers.
At a gas station in New Maryland, the underside of the canopy over the gas pumps collapsed.
At a New Maryland Irving gas station on Saturday, the underside of the canopy peeled off and fell down onto the pumps. (Ed Hunter/CBC)
On the Bay of Fundy, ferry service has resumed to Deer Island, Grand Manan and White Head Island.
On the Northumberland Strait, meanwhile, restrictions that were in place on Saturday for the Confederation Bridge were lifted, but authorities warned that due to the "site-specific weather forecast" for wind, restrictions are possible until about 4 p.m. Sunday.
In Saint John, not far from where the eye of the storm hit on Saturday evening, things were "far better than we anticipated," said Mayor Donna Reardon on Sunday morning.
She said several city crews were on standby during the storm and ready to respond.
"So, I would say we fared fairly well, you know, considering what it could have been."
She said Saint John Energy had about 900 customers affected by outages, but all were restored by Sunday morning.
"We had about 50 or so trees down," said Reardon, including some in King's Square.
One of the trees down in King's Square in uptown Saint John. This one blocked a walkway leading to the entrance of the City Market, which remained open throughout the day Saturday to provide shelter if needed, said Saint John Mayor Donna Reardon (Julia Wright/CBC)
She said crews have prioritized the trees that have fallen onto roads and buildings, and that work will continue, followed by the cleanup of smaller debris.
Saint John has a number of low-lying areas that are prone to flooding and those were flooded as expected, she said, and some "abandoned cars with that flooding."
With 911 dispatchers out on strike, the city's public service communication centre was being manned by non-union and management personnel, and Reardon said "that all went smooth" even though there were more calls than usual coming in.
Thumbnail image courtesy of Julia Wright/CBC.
This article, written by Mia Urquhart, was originally published for CBC News. With files from Alexandre Silberman.