Stormy weather conditions slowed emergency crews scrambling Tuesday to restore electrical power to dozens of communities on Newfoundland's northeast coast.
The storm blew power lines down on Random Island.
(CBC)
About 7,500 customers were still without power on the Bonavista Peninsula, Newfoundland Power said Tuesday afternoon.
In the town of Bonavista, councillors were considering whether to call a state of emergency.
Police, firefighters and volunteers were going door to door in the town on Wednesday afternoon to ensure that all residents were safe.
Much of eastern Newfoundland was plunged into darkness on Sunday, as storms caused a series of malfunctions on the power grid.
Problems on the Bonavista Peninsula, though, remain serious because the storm knocked down seven large support structures for transmission lines in the area.
Michelle Coughlan, director of corporate communications with Newfoundland Power, said those supports "literally toppled to the ground" during a storm that brought winds that topped 100 km/h.
About two kilometres of transmission line also collapsed. Much of the damage occurred in back country that is "not easily accessible at the best of times," Coughlan said Tuesday morning.
Newfoundland Power crews began installing portable generators on Tuesday, and the company hopes to begin rationing power on Tuesday night.
Coughlan said the utility is asking customers to be patient, as power is not expected to be fully restored until next Monday.
Consumers, she said, should "really have a focus on turning off or not using any unnecessary power as we prepare to restore power and until power is restored."
Coughlan said Newfoundland Power will be dispatching crews to the Bonavista Peninsula as soon as they complete repairs in other areas.
At its worst on Sunday, the storm knocked out electrical service to about 100,000 customers. Phone service, including cellphone coverage, was also temporarily disrupted.
The power outage sparked a run on supplies, with some stores expressing concern about how long they will last.
"People [are] looking for white gas, propane, everything like that for your houses," said Douglas Blackmore, who works at Moody's Gas Bar in Port Blandford.
"Out in [the] Clarenville area, it's all sold out. Here, it's pretty well all sold out, and this is just the first night of it for us," Blackmore said Monday.
Stephen Kelley, another Port Blandford resident, bundled his family into a car — and a freezer's worth of food into a trunk — to head to relatives in Gander, about 115 kilometres away.
"There [are] no community centres set up for anything. There's no place to go, but to go with family in central Newfoundland," he said. "You gotta do what you gotta do."
Restaurants and hotels in some communities, such as Clarenville, have been overwhelmed by unexpected customers.
Margaret Hobbs, a Bunyan's Cove resident, said that she is grateful to have a generator, but a lack of electricity still poses challenges, as she cares for three mentally challenged adults.
"I was depressed about it, because when you're in home care, you got a lot of clothes to wash," she said. "It's just piling up."
Hobbs said she has been told she should have power restored by Tuesday night.
Parts of the northeastern coast of Newfoundland, Canada, in particular the Bonavista Peninsula, were hit hard following a Sunday evening storm. Power went out in St. John's Sunday night, but was promptly restored. By Tuesday, around 7500 customers were without electricity on the Bonavista Peninsula alone. However a spokeswoman with Newfoundland Power Corporation said Tuesday that power had been restored faster than expected in parts of the peninsula.