SYDNEY, NS — Central Maine Power crews are in Nova Scotia helping restore electricity after Hurricane Fiona ripped through the area.
A team of 32 lineworkers and 10 support staff traveled there after their mutual aid partner in Nova Scotia, "Nova Scotia Power," asked for volunteers.
Some people have been without power for more than three days.
Nova Scotia Power officials called it an "all-hands on deck approach" during a news conference Tuesday. The company called in crews from all over New England, focusing on those who could arrive first.
"It's definitely hard. I've got two little kids at home and a wife, but they understand this is what dad does. At the same point, they know there are other kids who don't have lights or power, and that's everything," Jason Endsley, a regional operations manager for CMP, said. "We're here for the long run. We want to help them and get these people's lives back to normal."
Public school classes in northern and eastern Nova Scotia were canceled again on Wednesday, according to the province's government.
Endsley said long-time lineworkers told him they are noticing storms getting stronger, happening more frequently, and causing more damage.
"With climate change, and the weather we've experienced, there's definitely a shift," Endsley said. "On a blue sky day, we run stronger poles, put up better wires, automate the system, learning from other outages to make those outages smaller. Stuff like this really sets home the day-to-day work that the regular person does not know when the lights are on."
He said crews train for events like this to be prepared.
"The people up here have been great, very grateful to have us. They've been out of power for 72 hours. You put yourself in that perspective, and it's the least we can do to get them back to normal," Endsley said.
The CMP crews expect to stay at least a week unless a weather event threatens Maine.