Winds Up To 180 km/h ‘Wreak Havoc’ In Newfoundland

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Residents in Newfoundland and Labrador are taking stock of the damage caused by this Saturday’s fearsome windstorm.

Utility crews worked through overnight to restore power to the tens of thousands of customers who were left without electricity.

Newfoundland Power tweeted that 20,000 customers were still without power Sunday morning, down from 70,000 Saturday night. The utility said it hopes to get most residents back on the grid by Sunday evening, but isolated outages could last into Monday.

St. John’s resident Phonse Fagan said he slept fully clothed under six blankets to stay warm after the heat and lights went out at his house Saturday at about noon. A shrieking gale had been picking up speed for the previous two hours when the power failed, he said as he sat Sunday reading in a warming centre at St. John’s City Hall.