New Glasgow gastro pub makes hundreds of breakfasts for power crews

A New Glasgow, N.S., gastro pub made hundreds of breakfasts this morning for Nova Scotia Power workers who were out repairing lines damaged during post-tropical storm Fiona.

Litocha Snell, owner of The Thistle, said the power company reached out directly with the request.

"They've been working their guts out. They deserve whatever we can give them, whatever support we can give them. It's well deserved," she said.

Snell said she keeps an open tab for NSP workers after every major storm and bills the company for the cost. The breakfasts were made under the same arrangement.

Snell said between the Wholesaler Club, Walmart and Superstore, they were able to find everything needed to make to-go bags with breakfast sandwiches, hash browns and juice packs.

"I think I had 91 packages of English muffins, we had approximately 30 flats of 30 eggs, 27 packages of bacon. I think we had 20-some packages of hash browns. It was quite a bit. And then we had juice packs as well, 550 juice packs," Snell told CBC's Maritime Noon.

Snell said there were three people in the kitchen and one person out front.

"We were kind of running around like chickens with their heads cut off," Snell said.

Should Nova Scotia Power ask again, Snell said they would be willing to do it again.

"Those guys deserve it, they're working long hours," Snell said. "These guys, they're putting in at least 12-hour shifts, you know, sleeping in trucks, some are in hotels, motels just doing what they can."

Nova Scotia officials provided an updated on post-tropical storm Fiona efforts on Thursday, Sept. 29.

Six days out from post-tropical storm Fiona, efforts are still focused on clearing trees and restoring power, officials said during the final live briefing on restoration efforts on Thursday.

Although it's the last live briefing, officials said they would continue to provide updates on social media.

"Over 1,500 people now are responding now in the field and even more behind the scenes," said Nova Scotia Power's storm lead Matt Drover.

Drover said there are no plans to review adding more underground lines, but he said the company is always looking at opportunities at adding them where it makes sense.

He said most people would be reconnected by Friday, but when asked when the whole province would officially be reconnected, Drover wouldn't give an exact date.

"As soon as we have a really good estimate, we'll be updating our outage maps where people can understand when their restoration time is," he said.

Canadian Red Cross next step

Dan Bedell, communications director with the Canadian Red Cross's Atlantic division, said the next phase of its operation is financial support.

This week, the province announced $1,000 per household in emergency funding for people who were ordered out of their home and couldn't return. To get the money, people can register with the Canadian Red Cross.

"A lot of the people who were the hardest hit ... may not be aware these programs exist yet and even if they do they may not have a means to do so ... we will assist them in the same way as they're able to register," Bedell said, adding he hoped to have the money in bank accounts by Monday.

Jason Mew, director of the incident management division at the Nova Scotia Emergency Management Office, said the fuel sector is starting to recover. He said there are several gas stations will without power but "they're still a priority."

The province announced Thursday morning applications are open for financial support for Nova Scotians affected by Fiona.