New Brunswickers clean up in Lee's wake, thousands still without power

As cleanup continued on Sunday in the wake of post-tropical storm Lee, the New Brunswick government said the damage doesn't warrant disaster financial assistance. 

Based on "initial information from communities that damages to infrastructure and properties are light, disaster financial assistance is not expected," stated a government news release sent out Sunday afternoon. 

The release went on to say, "Wind and surface flooding are insurable losses. Impacted individuals should contact their insurance providers to report damage."

Cleanup, meanwhile, continued on Sunday in communities across the province. 

Power crews were still working to restore power to thousands who were without. By 5:30 p.m. AT Sunday, there were about 4,000  N.B. Power customers waiting for power — the majority of them in the Fredericton and southwestern areas of the province — down from a storm peak of about 38,000. 

In all, N.B. Power said about 88,000 customers were impacted at some point during the storm.

The utility estimates that some customers will have to wait until Monday evening before their power is restored. The latest restoration times can be found online.

"As customer outages are restored in some communities, crews are being relocated where they are most needed. Rest assured, we have crews in every district to respond to outages," the utility said in a statement Sunday morning.

Lee, meanwhile, left New Brunswick and passed over Prince Edward Island overnight.

The storm is closing in on Newfoundland's west coast, with the eye expected to make landfall on the western coast around 9 p.m., although with much less power. By mid-afternoon, the Canadian Hurricane Centre estimated Lee's sustained winds to be 74 km/h.

Lee's tropical storm warnings have ended in Atlantic Canada, although gale warnings are still in effect for waters to the south and east of Lee's track. 

Communities along the Bay of Fundy felt some of the strongest gusts and rain on Saturday as Lee's eye made its way across the southeastern corner of New Brunswick.

"In terms of the forecast, things played out quite nicely," said CBC meteorologist Ryan Snoddon on Sunday morning. "Both rainfall amounts and wind gusts were pretty much right in line with what was forecast across the Maritimes."

As predicted, the heaviest winds were to the east of Lee, while the heaviest rains were to the west.