Hydro Ottawa sending technicians to Nova Scotia to aid in storm relief
Hydro Ottawa is sending staff to help with recovery efforts in Nova Scotia after post-tropical storm Fiona ripped through Atlantic Canada Saturday.
As of 11 a.m. Sunday, more than 250,000 Nova Scotians were affected by ongoing power outages, according to the province's electric utility company.
In a statement to CBC, Hydro Ottawa said it will be sending a crew of around 10 power line technicians, five trucks and three supervisory personnel Monday morning to help restore power to those Nova Scotians.
"At this point this is what the local power company needs from us," Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said on Twitter. "If they require more we will be on standby to offer more crews."
Hydro Ottawa is a member of the North Atlantic Mutual Assistance Group, a collection of utilities providers across northeastern Canada and the United States that offers aid to members during times of crisis.
The Ottawa crew will join over 900 field workers already deployed by Nova Scotia Power to address outages the company said could last days.
Nova Scotia will also be receiving assistance from the Canadian Armed Forces and funding from the federal government to help municipalities repair damaged infrastructure, and to assist individuals and small businesses pay for uninsured losses.
Atlantic Canadians are already beginning to assess and clean up the significant damage left in Fiona's wake.
The storm made landfall in Nova Scotia shortly after 4 a.m. AT, promptly causing hundreds of thousands in the province to lose power and Cape Breton Regional Municipality to declare a state of emergency.
Fiona moved inland in southeastern Quebec early Sunday, according to Environment Canada, and is expected to dissipate over the Labrador Sea.
