Residents of Gallants and Spruce Brook still without power after winter storm

Adverse weather caused outages across the island earlier this week.

Residents living in the communities of Gallants and Spruce Brook, about 40 minutes outside Corner Brook, are frustrated and concerned about an ongoing power outage that started on Thursday evening during a winter storm that swept over the island.

A popular cabin area, many people call the area home year round, but have experienced an uptick in weather-related outages over the past year. Landline phones are also out of service and there are concerns surrounding what would happen in an emergency.

Michael Hickey has lived in Gallants for the last six years and estimated upwards of 40 power outages since that time - some hours, some lasting days. Like many others in the area, Hickey has a woodstove that is able to heat his home, however he did note that not everyone had that option available and that many seniors live in the area. He also says that tree trimming has not been properly maintained over the years, leading to an increase in outages over the years.

"They told me there's a lot of trees built up, and they brought it up to their managers, and they're not doing nothing about it."

Meanwhile, Hickey says the outage has caused him to miss work and has damaged plumbing.

"I couldn't even go to work today... because my water all froze up" Hickey said. "I got a trace water (system) that keeps the water from freezing" however with the outage, the system is not able to function according to Hickey.

While Newfoundland Power has indicated on its website that the restoration time is 11:00 p.m. on December 23, the time has been continuously shifted over the last several days.