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Thursday, January 31, 2013

NB Power Bringing In Help To Restore Power

High winds knocking trees onto power lines leaving more than 39,000 NB Power customers in the dark.
 

The utility tells CHSJ News the areas most affected Fredericton, St. Stephen, Sussex, Rothesay, Bathurst and Moncton. 

An NB power spokesperson says, while they continue to make progress restoring power, the winds continue to cause new outages. 


Crews will continue to work around the clock and NB Power has already hired contractors to help and have asked for help from neighbouring utilities in their restoration efforts.

Meanwhile, crews from Saint John Energy are also working to restore power.


For updates on NB Power outages, click here 

For updates from Saint John Energy, click here




New Jobs Come To Fredericton

25 new research and development jobs are coming to Fredericton.

Siemens Canada will employ the workers at its newly established research and development facility in the capital city.

The company announced its partnership with NB Power back in July to integrate smart grid technology into the electrical system and focus on virtual power plants.

Bayside Drive Power Poles Down







Crews had their hands full after downed power lines on Bayside Drive creating a traffic mess earlier today.

Credit: Brett Stevens

Destructive Storm Hammers SJ

A wild day of wind and rain have been incredibly destructive in the Port City.


Extremely strong wind gusts have blown the siding off homes, knocked down countless trees and snapped power poles.    The resulting mess has kept utility employees, police and others very busy today.

The causeway is closed to traffic Eastbound because of high water and Bayside Drive is closed from the Causeway to Redhead Road due to downed power lines. 


The Chipman Hill Pedway has now reopened as the windows have been secured. Large glass planes were dangerously close to coming out of the pedway and falling onto to Chipman Hill.  

NB Power is reporting more than 33,000 customers are without power in the rain and wind storm.   Over 8600 in impacted in Darlings Island, Quispam, Rothesay, Hampton and the Peninsula.    Major outages are also reported in Sussex and St. Stephen and Moncton.

Saint John Energy is dealing with numerous broken poles and wires down and expect that work to continue until tonight.

City police telling CHSJ News the Redhead dyke is now closed due to the high water.
High surf is reported at Saint's Rest today.   Police are directing traffic at several intersections where the lights are out.

Lancaster Avenue is blocked to traffic at Simms Corner after a power pole came down.
The storm leading to cancelled and delayed flights at the Saint John Airport.




The following roads are closed:  
  • Bayside Drive at the Causeway to Red Head Road (downed power lines)
  • East lane of the Causeway (water)
  • Sand Cove Road at the entrance to the Irving Nature Park
  • Germain Street between King Street and Union Street
  • Red Head Road at the eastern dyke (water)
  • Churchland Road from Loch Lomond Road to Cozy Lake Road (downed tree)

Thousands Are Without Power in Storm

Saint John Energy is reporting power outages east, west and uptown due to the high winds and rain today.     We are told crews are working to get the lights back on.  

City police are directing traffic at many east side intersections because many traffic lights are not working.

A pole knocked down some wires on Bayside Drive near the animal shelter.   City police have blocked traffic from the east side of the causeway and Bayside Drive. 
Lancaster Avenue is blocked to traffic at Simms Corner after a power pole came down.

The high winds resulting in a massive power outage province wide impacted over 15,000 people including more than 5000 in Nauwigewauk, Quispam, Rothesay, Kingston, Grand Bay-Westfield and beyond.

The surf is high in the winds at Saint's Rest beach and we hear the water is very high on the causeway.

The storm is impacted air travel as well with cancelled and delayed flights arrriving in Saint John and some departures are delayed also.


Some Schools Close With Loss Of Electricity

Kennebecasis Valley High has closed down for the afternoon after losing power.   Buses are coming shortly to get the kids home.

St. Stephen High and St. Stephen Elementary schools are also closed along with St. George Elementary.

In the Anglophone West School District, Oromocto High, Harold Peterson Middle School, Sunbury West school along with Gesner, Summerhill and Lower Lincoln elementary schools are shut down for the afternoon as well.

High Winds Knocking Out Power

The high winds are causing problems with power outages. More than 32 hundred customers are without power in the Rothesay district which includes Hampton, Grand Bay-Westfield and the Kingston Peninsula. More than 19 hundred customers are without electricity in Sussex.

Due to high winds Saint John Energy is advising their customers that you may see power interruptions through out the day although no major outages have been reported as of yet.

If you've got a shack in the ice fishing village at Renforth, you might want to go get it.....if you can catch it.

We've received word from one of our listeners the wind is blowing the shacks around quite a bit and even sending a few of them down river.

The wind and rainfall warnings remain in effect this afternoon.




You Might Want To Check On Your Ice Fishing Shack

If you've got a shack in the ice fishing village at Renforth, you might want to go get it...if you can catch it.

We've received word from one of our listeners the wind is blowing the shacks around quite a bit and even sending a few of them down river.

A wind and rainfall warning remain in effect for the Saint John area.

Car Rolls Over In Musquash

No one was injured after a car left Highway 1 in Musquash yesterday morning around 8:00 when road conditions were treacherous.





(Photo Courtesy Of Fire Chief Wayne Pollock)

Fire In Rothesay

K-V firefighters called out around midnight to a blaze which destroyed a garage and all the contents inside at 18 Gentleman Lane. 

CHSJ News has been told the garage was fully ablaze in flames when  firefighters arrived. 

There was a vehicle nearby that sustained some damage. As for a cause......Discarded ashes from a woodstove are suspected.

Gas Prices Jump

There has been a significant increase in the price of gas after the weekly setting.......Self serve regular in the city rising a few cents a litre to $1.27.9 while diesel is now at $1.41.9.

Composition Of Pension Board Decided

In a closed-session special meeting last night, Common Council established how the Board of Trustees for the Shared Risk Plan will be made up, its obligations and how they will be paid.

The Declaration of Trust needs to be finalized by Friday to satisfy the requirements of the Memorandum of Understanding. Mayor Mel Norton says there will be eight trustees: four from the city and one from each union. The most recent document is simply one more step in a much longer process which will necessitate additional documentation being approved by council to complete.

Under the Shared Risk Plan, retirees are not represented on the pension board. One amendment to the draft motion curtailed how far pension trustees are allowed to travel for training seminars.

Councillor Susan Fullerton was the only dissenting vote against the terms of the Declaration of Trust.

The trustees from the unions are Paul Stackhouse (Fire Fighters Local 771), Jamie Hachey (Saint John Police Association), Micheal Meahan (CUPE Local 18), and Paul Johnon (CUPE Local 486), Cathy Craig, Alan Lock, Ian Polley and John de Gruyter (City of Saint John).