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Fredericton closes emergency operations centre for Arthur

Fredericton closes emergency operations centre for Arthur

The City of Fredericton is closing the emergency operations centre it opened in response to post-tropical storm Arthur but will continue to operate the two sites offering showers, electronics charging and bulk water until further notice.

City officials closed the emergency operations centre at noon Friday. It went into operation after Arthur uprooted and damaged thousands of trees with high winds and heavy rain on July 5, plunging much of the area into a blackout that still persists for some.

However, the shower/charging locations will continue to operate at the Grant Harvey Centre and Willie O'Ree Place from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. daily until further notice. Bulk water is available in the parking lot at those locations for those who bring their own container.

With the closure of the emergency operations centre, all storm-related questions and calls related to damaged trees can be directed to 460-2038.

"Again the public is being asked to be patient as crews work through the biggest cleanup operation the City has ever experienced," stated the city in a new release Friday.

At the peak of the power outages following Arthur, 140,000 NB Power customers were without electricity. with the Fredericton area being the hardest hit with more than 55,589 outages.

Power had been restored to 90 per cent of those customers by midnight on July 11 and to 99 per cent of them by midnight July 12.

As of about 6:45 p.m. on Friday, NB Power's outages report indicated 161 customers in the province were still without service, including 153 in the Fredericton area, six in Woodstock and two in St. Stephen.

Meanwhile the City of Saint John says its residential cleanup of trees damaged during the storm will continue through next week.

"Officials will undertake another assessment at that time," the city said in a statement.

The cleanup, which began on Tuesday, was originally expected to take about four days.

As of Thursday afternoon, crews had removed more than 160 loads of tree trunks, branches and leaves from across the city, officials said.

The tree debris will be chipped and used on city trails, or composted, they said.