Thursday, January 31, 2008

PEI's Ice Storm

The freezing rain started Monday night.
Our power flickered off and on throughout the night, finally going off for good at 5:30am Tuesday morning. Today, Thursday, at 12:05 pm the power came back on.
The pictures below were taken at and around our house Wednesday morning, January 30th.

Photos from Islanders from across the Island - The Guardian
Photos from The Guardian Staff
Photos from Islanders from across the Island - CBC
Photos from the PEI Talk Forum Folks

CBC News Stories:
Update - Saturday Feb. 3rd:
More than 1,000 Islanders still in the dark
Thirty-eight crews working to restore power
NANCY MACPHEE
The Journal Pioneer


SUMMERSIDE – Thirty-eight crews from P.E.I. and New Brunswick continued to work throughout the day Sunday to restore power to the more than 1,000 Islanders still in the dark.

Areas still affected by outages resulting from last week’s ice storm are: Dickson Road, Elmswood, Hartsville, Hunter River, Wheatley River, Toronto, Mayfield, St. Patrick, St. Lawrence, Huntley, Bedeque, Chelton Beach, Borden-Carleton, Darnley, Rattenbury, Alberton and O’Leary and some surrounding areas.

“We are still hoping to have the majority our customers on by Sunday night but we are advising our customers to continue to prepare,” said Maritime Electric spokesperson Kim Griffin.

Update - Sunday Feb. 3rd -

[]
For Immediate Release
February 3, 2008

Public Safety Office Provides Update on Storm Relief

CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI -- The Emergency Measures Organization, part of the Prince Edward Island Office of Public Safety, says things are gradually returning to normal following the ice storm last week and freezing rain on the weekend.

As of late Sunday, Maritime Electric said power had been restored to all but about 500 Island households. The PEI Division of the Canadian Red Cross in partnership with Island communities scaled down operation of relief centers throughout the weekend, and by Sunday evening all relief centers had been closed. Public Safety, Red Cross, community and Fire Department personnel continued to monitor community needs during the weekend.

Throughout the storm and the resulting power loss, staff at the EMO office responded to calls from individuals and municipalities, arranged for generators to be delivered to communities in need, coordinated local response with Red Cross, communities and Fire Departments, provided fuel to keep generators operating at relief centers, and liaised with their federal counterparts at Public Safety Canada. Throughout it all, Carolyn Bertram, Minister Responsible for Public Safety, said Islanders displayed a true sense of community.

Update Monday Feb. 4th -
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=104847&sc=98
04/02/08
Power outages down to 100 from storm
STACEY MURRAY
The Guardian


Just over 100 people were still without power in the province late Sunday night, following an ice storm last week.

Kim Griffin, spokesperson with Maritime Electric, said 38 crews have been working to restore power over the weekend, and while stormy weather Friday night and Saturday caused only a few scattered outages, it did set their schedule back.

“We were slowed down several hours by the weather (on Saturday).’’

While they hoped to have power restored tonight, Griffin said there may still be pockets of customers without power this morning, due to minor problems that occur when lines are recharged. Any customers still without power by mid-morning are asked to contact 1-800-670-1012 to report it.

She said while the cost of the storm is still unknown, early estimates are in the range of $2 million. Roughly 300 poles were damaged in the storm.

Meanwhile, the P.E.I. division of the Canadian Red Cross scaled down operation of relief centres over the weekend as conditions improved.

By Sunday night, all centres had been closed, but the Department of Public Safety, Red Cross and local fire departments continued to monitor community needs.

Public Safety Minister Carolyn Bertram said she was proud of all those who have helped out throughout the week.

“Once again the people of our province have proven their remarkable ability to give of themselves, their time and their resources.’’

The areas still affected by outages are Middleton, Freetown, Darnley, Rattenbury, Park Corner and Corner Hill.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! Great photos. I've been in an ice storm before. What I remember is not being able to walk outside because everything was so slick. They even didn't deliver the mail that day because cars couldn't stay on the road and people couldn't walk in many places (too slick).

Alyric said...

Pretty icy here but we missed the ice storm - a bit of freezing rain but mot much. It's supposed to be a snow storm today but hasn't started yet.

Anonymous said...

We got some freezing rain here in Maine, but not as much as you did! I'm in the midcoast region.

It reminds me of the ice storms in 1998. We were without power for over 2 weeks. It hit us and you up there in Canada very badly!

My back patio looks like an ice rink and my driveway is a luge!

Karen