Thousands of customers still without power in N.B. Christmas Day

Thousands are still without power in New Brunswick Sunday after two days of high wind gusts and heavy rain in some parts of the province. 

More than 3,000 customers were without power as of 5:30 p.m. AT, according to the N.B. Power outage map. Peak outages on Saturday saw more than 71,000 customers lose power. 

Outages have been reported in almost all parts of the province, with Kent County and Madawaska County some of the areas more affected as of Sunday afternoon. 

N.B. Power spokesperson Marc Belliveau said there are more than 500 crew members and 30 contractors working on restoring the outages as quickly and safely as possible. Many customers can expect to get power back on or before Dec. 27, N.B. Power said in a tweet Sunday afternoon.

"We understand that losing power is difficult any time of year but especially during the holidays," he said.

Belliveau said the holiday weekend's storm is one of the largest province-wide events New Brunswich has seen in 25 years, causing more than 650 invidual outage incidents.

Special weather statement in place

Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for the Fundy coast and along southeast New Brunswick at 3:30 a.m. AT.

Snow squalls are expected throughout Sunday morning and into the evening, the statement said. Roadways and walkways may become difficult to navigate and drivers should be prepared for "winter driving conditions."

Storm surge warnings ended across the province Saturday afternoon, Environment Canada said.

Storm surge warnings were in place most of the day Saturday in the Bay of Chaleur from Miscou Island to Campbellton. 

All other weather warnings or alerts in the province were lifted as of 5:30 p.m. AT Saturday.

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