Equipment failure leaves 17,000 people without power in St. John's snowfall
CBC
Power has been restored to most households and businesses after more than 17,000 Newfoundland Power customers on the Avalon Peninsula lost electricity Tuesday afternoon.
The power went out around 2:49, affecting 17,180 customers, according to Newfoundland Power's website, as the St. John's area faced an early bout of winter weather.
The outage was connected to a problem with a piece of equipment at the Hardwoods substation in St. John's, according to a tweet from the company.
Power had been restored to most customers as of 4 p.m., according to Newfoundland Power in an update. Over 1,000 customers were still without power in the Portugal Cove area as of 8:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Snow began falling in the St. John's area around lunchtime and is expected to be heaviest between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., according to CBC N.L. meteorologist Ashley Brauweiler.
Snowfall amounts are expected to be between five and 10 centimetres, while wind warnings and special weather statements remain in place from St. John's to Terra Nova.
The outage wasn't a result of testing on the Labrador-Island or Maritime links operated by Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, according to a statement from the provincial Crown corporation. Testing left more than 57,000 customers without power for a short period earlier this month.
Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.