Tree trimming requests up in anticipation of bad weather, says Maritime Electric

Dozens of Islanders have asked Maritime Electric to trim their trees in hopes of preventing power loss during the next storm.

In the past, customers haven't been "receptive" to having Maritime Electric crews trim their trees, said utility spokesperson Kim Griffin, but many are now open to the idea following the province-wide power outage caused by post-tropical storm Fiona,

"We've had, I think, over 100 calls, I think, in the last week or so. Just customers calling in and checking in to see, you know, if they can make sure they are on our list," she said.

If there are issues with trees near power lines at homes or businesses, customers can call Maritime Electric and be put on a list to have trees trimmed, Griffin said.

Some are also trying to organize cleanup of trees in their area which aren't near homes but could cause problems, she said.

"Some other customers have been looking outside of the right-of-way where there could even be danger trees or trees in their area that they are looking to either, you know, have people help them or hire a contractor to assist with that," she said.

"We've heard lots of different stories from customers and their ability to try to take it on their own property far away from power lines, because in Fiona, you know, much like Dorian, not only did Fiona uproot trees, but also trees and pieces of trees and limbs flew across and got onto our lines as well."

Many Islanders expressed worry on social media at one point Tuesday when about 12,000 people were without power. Griffin said she knows people are worried about power going out again when another storm hits the Island.

"The last couple of days with the winds we did have more trees come down on our lines. We are continuing to spend a lot of time on that to make sure the system is stabilized, the system is strong — some of these trees are still weakened," Griffin said.

Right now Prince Edward Island is under a tropical cyclone watch as tropical storm Nicole passes north of the Bahamas on its way to Florida, according to Environment Canada.

"Rain and wind is likely over the Maritime provinces with very mild, tropical temperatures and gusty winds south of the track and cold northeasterly winds north of it," reads the watch statement on the Environment Canada website.

Utility crews have been told about the possibility of bad weather this weekend, Griffin said.

"If that is a situation we would call in crews in advance, but at this point we are waiting. We are still four days out," she said.

Maritime Electric crews are still doing post-Fiona clean up and expect that will take a few more weeks, Griffin said.