Residents of Fogo Island, Change Islands, and various regions in central Newfoundland are experiencing power outages on Tuesday evening following high winds that reached hurricane strength early in the morning. Some communities have been without heat and electricity for nearly 20 hours.
As of 7:45 p.m. NT on Tuesday, nearly 4,000 customers of Newfoundland Power were reported to be without electricity due to harsh weather conditions.
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro also reported outages affecting approximately another 1,900 customers.
Roland Wells, a resident of Fogo Island, has been without power since 11:30 p.m. on Monday.
He noted that wind speeds in his area exceeded 150 km/h on Tuesday morning.
“We just settled in for the night, hoping things would get better by morning, but that hasn’t happened yet,” Wells told CBC News on Tuesday evening.
Initially, it was estimated that power would be restored to the communities of Fogo Island and Change Islands by 5 p.m. However, an update from Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro at 6:30 p.m. indicated that crews encountered several complications. The new estimate for power restoration is now 10 p.m.
CBC News has reached out to Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro for further details.
“They have been making a lot of improvements to the system, so we expected it to be more robust than it has proven to be,” Wells remarked.
According to Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, St. Brendan’s will remain without power on Tuesday night as crews were unable to access the community. (Patrick Butler/Radio-Canada)
Wells indicated that this season is not the first time storms have caused extended power outages, and being without electricity or reliable cell service poses significant challenges.
“I have elderly parents and in-laws here. They rely on cell phones, and if they fell ill, there would be no way for them to call for an ambulance or even reach us,” he explained. “It’s genuinely frightening.”
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In the remote island community of St. Brendan’s, Mayor Bill Broderick estimated that approximately 20 homes will be without power on Tuesday night.
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro indicated that around 60 customers are affected, as crews were unable to reach St. Brendan’s on Tuesday. Their website update states that crews will be positioned at the ferry terminal on Wednesday morning.
“Living on an isolated island, it’s undoubtedly a concern,” Broderick said regarding the extended outage.
Mayor Deborah Bourden of Twillingate expressed similar frustrations. She mentioned that poor cell service is a persistent issue for the town, which worsens when more people attempt to send messages during outages.
“This is the third storm we’ve faced this winter, and it’s the second one where we’ve experienced power outages lasting over 10 or 14 hours,” Bourden informed CBC Radio.
“This presents a significant challenge for us as a community.”
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