Tens of thousands of businesses and homes in Nova Scotia have power once again after a potent wind storm lashed the region on Christmas Day and many stranded travellers were able to get out last night or this morning.

At its peak, widespread outages impacted roughly 158,000 Nova Scotia Power customers – a number that dropped to approximately 4,000 customers by Wednesday afternoon.

“We’re working hard on those outages and we expect to have the majority of those back by 11:30 tonight,” Sasha Irving, vice-president of corporate affairs and stakeholder relations at Nova Scotia Power, told CTV News Channel Wednesday afternoon.

Irving added that there will still be small “pockets” of outages that may continue through Thursday.

“Then we have an additional 1,800 customers who have lost electricity through the night last night, or this morning, mostly due to winds – but not necessarily connected with the original outages,” Irving said.

Additionally, there are also gas shortages throughout Nova Scotia due to outages at a Dartmouth fuel depot.

Nova Scotia Power is currently prioritizing those still in the dark from the Christmas Day storm, but Irving said crews are also working on new outages, which they anticipate resolving by 11:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Winds exceeding 100 kilometres per hour gusted through the province throughout the day on Monday.

In some areas, the winds reached hurricane-force strength, forcing trees to topple onto power lines, breaking poles, and snapping the lines entirely.

“We’ve had multiple poles broken – which is an unusual occurrence here in Nova Scotia – we’re seeing multiple trees on spans of line, which means . . . you have to go through and repair all of the different sections of line before you can get that section back, powered up,” Irving said.

Infrastructural damage is more an issue in western parts of the province, Irving adds, where the storm appears to have made the hardest impact.

A team of more than 700 people helped with outage restoration, according to a statement from Nova Scotia Power issued on Tuesday.

Including “450 frontline personnel,” the company had support from its own powerline technicians and team members from New Brunswick Power and Saint John Energy. Contract crews from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick also helped, along with foresters and damage assessment teams.

“I want to thank all the crews and support staff for their incredible work – which is ongoing; they have spent the holidays away from their families,” Nova Scotia Power storm lead Stephen Pothier said the company’s statement on Tuesday.

“We aren’t going to stop working until the last customer is restored.”

For customers still waiting for their power to be restored, Nova Scotia Power has opened “comfort centres” in Shelburne, Kentville, Stellarton, and Chester, N.S., providing places for locals to warm up, have a coffee, or recharge their phones.

N.S. Power employees are also going door-to-door to check on people, assess the damage, and help residents get in contact with electricians.

“We also just have people checking in to make sure individuals are okay, and, if they need assistance, finding ways to provide that for them,” Irving said. 

In the wake of the storm, a cold Arctic air mass continues to advance across the country on Wednesday bringing bitter cold temperatures.

Environment Canada has issued a swath of special weather statements blanketing Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, while wind and blizzard warnings continue to impact Newfoundland and Labrador, prompting ferry cancellations.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Nova Scotia Power also reminded those using a power generator at home to never operate the devices indoors, or in an enclosed space.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Brown