Media Advisory
Hurricane Earl Update
(September 4, 2010) - HRM’s Emergency Management Office (EMO) will deactivate its full scale emergency operations centre this evening now that Hurricane Earl has passed the municipality.
“Considering the intensity and strength of Earl, the response really speaks to the hard work of both municipal staff and the various other groups involved in the operations side of things - both before, during and after the hurricane. HRM residents can now do their part by being patient while our crews proceed with clean-up and the re-opening of parks and sports fields, and generally just looking out for each other - offering help to neighbours where possible,” said Mayor Peter Kelly.
Earl’s high winds resulted in more than 100,000 HRM households losing power. Outage inquiries can be made to Nova Scotia Power directly at 428-6004. Outage areas and reconnect time lines can also be found at www.nspower.ca .
Municipal crews are making good headway on tree and branch clean-up, working with Nova Scotia Power in cases where power lines are involved.. Residents are asked to not hinder work crew progress by moving debris from private property onto HRM-owned land for disposal.
Wooded parks and sports fields will re-open once a damage assessment has been done. The public will be notified accordingly. Major parks, including Point Pleasant, Public Gardens, the Dingle Park, and Dartmouth’s Shubie park will be assessed first.
The following roads were still closed as of this evening: Cow Bay Road between Osborne Head and the Cow Bay Moose and Highway 333 from Dover Road to the Swiss Air monument.
As night time approaches and many homes find themselves without power, Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency remind residents to please refrain from using candles, and instead use a flashlight - a much safer and brighter alternative. They also ask that residents not bring camp stoves inside the home and operate generators according to manufacturers’ instructions.
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Contact:
Shaune MacKinlay
Public Information Officer, HRM EMO
233-6838 (cell)
