Bird strike leaves more than 1,000 without power on Newfoundland’s west coast

More than a thousand people on Newfoundland’s west coast who have already been without power for more than 24 hours thanks to a bird strike will have to continue waiting for restoration.

According to Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro’s website, the unplanned power outage started Monday at 7:15 a.m. NT. due to a bird strike at the Rocky Harbour Station. It’s left approximately 1,225 customers in the Rocky Harbour and Norris Point areas without electricity.

While power was initially expected to be restored by Tuesday at noon, N.L. Hydro later said overnight transformer repair work was unsuccessful and the new estimated restoration time was midnight.

“Crews continue to troubleshoot, and a backup transformer is on the way and expected by 6 p.m.,” the utility said on social media at around 10:40 a.m. NT.

Stephanie Burden, a pharmacist and owner of Complete Care Pharmasave in Rocky Harbour, has a backup generator and has been offering people a place to charge their devices at her store.

“The place was hopping,” she told CBC Radio’s Newfoundland Morning.

Many of the people who dropped by her business were tourists, including one who had a paper due for a course but her laptop had run out of power.

“I got her set up and got her on our store Wi-Fi so she could submit her paper and not lose any points,” said Burden.

Burden said people were coming to her store to buy food, get craft beer as well as charge devices.

“People were definitely in good spirits. It was a lot of tourists and they were just trying to make the most of it,” she said.

While power outages do happen in the area often enough, Burden said this one has gone on for longer than usual. She said people should be prepared for power outages, like they prepare for winter storm warnings.

“The lesson is that we all need to be prepared, all of the time.”

Burden added without the power, people can’t access the internet and can’t send texts or check online for service updates.

On Monday evening, Norris Point opened its town hall to people who needed a place to charge devices, boil water or get a cup of tea.

“I think we’re holding up very well. I think we’re resilient people and we’re reaching out and we’re looking out for each other,” said Mayor Sheralyn Rumbolt in an interview by phone.

They’ve never seen such a long power outage before, she said, adding she’s asking for people to be patient while the company works on restoring power. 

Rumbolt said business owners are taking the disruption in stride, especially during the busy tourism season, and while some have generators, others probably had to temporarily close their doors.

However, she said if power is down, people can’t necessarily access Wi-Fi and or stay in contact with each other. Cell coverage can be a problem in rural areas and the problem needs to be taken seriously, she added.

Rumbolt said the town has been reaching out to the province over those concerns because it’s a public safety issue.

“Emergencies happen all the time,” she said, before her own call dropped briefly.

During the fall election the PC Party promised to increase cellular service coverage, and during the budget earmarked $13.5 million for broadband and cellular connectivity.

CBC has requested comment from N.L. Hydro.

Download our  free CBC News app  to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our  daily headlines newsletter here . Click  here to visit our landing page.