About 23,000 Maritime Electric customers in P.E.I. still without power after Fiona

CBC P.E.I. continues to focus on the aftermath of Fiona. If your data or internet is limited, click here for the CBC Lite version of the P.E.I. site.

About 23,000 Maritime Electric customers were still without power Sunday morning, more than a week after post-tropical storm Fiona hit P.E.I., according to the utility's outage map.

The storm slammed the Island with a vengeance in the early morning hours of Sept. 24, leaving widespread damage across the province — decades-old trees snapped in half, beaches and sand dunes decimated, many properties damaged beyond repair and 82,000 Maritime Electric customers without power immediately following the storm.

While many streets have been cleared, aid packages have been announced and schools are set to reopen Monday, the recovery from Fiona is far from over.

In an interview with CBC News Saturday afternoon, Maritime Electric spokesperson Kim Griffin said crews were working diligently through the weekend to restore power, but some communities were hit harder by the storm and it's taking longer to get power restored.

"It's still slow going but our crew remains very optimistic ... very resilient and they're just doing it as fast and as safely as they can to get it on as soon as possible," she said Saturday.

Griffin made an appeal for people to be careful while power lines are being re-energized.

"We have a lot of crews out working around the clock and it's really important for people to wear clothing that we can see, but also that they can be seen by the general public as well."

Islanders who need help cutting fallen trees on their property or moving large debris curbside because it is a safety hazard can call 1-833-734-1873 or email fionacleanup@gov.pe.ca to have their name put on a list for assistance.

Meanwhile, in Charlottetown — the province's capital city — many still don't have power.

Scott Adams, manager of public works for the city, says crews are working from sunup to sundown to clear trees blocking roadways and sidewalks. 

While it's been a tiring week, Adams says the outpouring of support from the community has been wonderful. 

"The community here have been such a huge supporters of our staff from the early days," he said.

"A lot of our staff themselves that, you know, had to leave their homes, didn't have power and they'd be working in the street and and you'd have people come out offer them pots of coffee, offer them meals, hot meals. It was just a phenomenal thing to see how this community came together after such a devastation."