Trudeau in Halifax to survey Dorian damage, over 100,000 still without power
Power slowly being restored in the Maritimes, as Justin Trudeau and federal ministers visit areas impacted by Dorian
After the remnants of what was once Dorian exited Canadian waters on Monday, the lives of residents in Atlantic Canada are beginning to return to normalcy as recovery efforts are well underway.
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Impact from the storm, however, will continue for days to come as officials warned of "very complex restorations that need to occur."
While power is slowly getting restored to the Maritimes, there were still more than 105,000 Nova Scotia Power customers without electricity early Tuesday morning, with 18,000 residual outages in PEI and 2,600 in New Brunswick.
The Nova Scotia government focused its efforts Monday on restoring power and cellphone services. The networks of several mobile providers have been down or only intermittently working following Dorian.
"At this stage of storm restoration, our crews must focus on critical customers and lines that will restore power to the greatest number of customers. We’re continuing to add crews so that we can restore power for everyone as soon as possible," Nova Scotia Power said in its latest news release.
Massive trees litter the streets in Halifax (Nathan Coleman/The Weather Network)
Schools that were closed Monday remain so on Tuesday as , to ensure public safety during the cleanup and restoration process.
"Based on the recommendation of the Emergency Management Office, schools will be closed as cleanup efforts after Hurricane Dorian continue," Nova Scotia's Department of Education said in a press release.
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, FEDERAL MINISTERS VISIT HALIFAX
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan arrived in Halifax on Tuesday to survey cleanup efforts and meet with impacted residents.
They are also observing recovery efforts by military personnel and government officials. There are nearly 400 troops stationed in Yarmouth, Bridgewater, Amherst, Port Hawksbury, Sydney and Halifax, continuing to assist power crews in the clearing of trees and debris.
Dorian made landfall as a hurricane-strength post-tropical storm near Sambro Creek, N.S. on Saturday, about 25 kilometres south of Halifax. The storm then crossed the Maritimes on Saturday night before making its way to Newfoundland on Sunday.
"With the track of Dorian being west of Newfoundland, it was mainly a wind event as the heaviest rains stayed west of the track," said Environment Canada in a storm summary.
Nearly all of Newfoundland experienced powerful winds Saturday night ahead of Dorian, with the strongest gusts reported over southwestern and western parts of the island.
"There were many reports of uprooted trees, general wind damage and power outages," EC said.
There will be a couple of systems to watch this week for Atlantic Canada as the region recovers from Dorian's aftermath.
Fortunately, neither of these systems -- one pushing through midweek and the other during the weekend -- will be very significant. Only light rain showers and moderate winds are the greatest concerns. Cooler-than-seasonal temperatures will also dominate this week and upcoming weekend.
