When the Lights go Out, it's just Another Winter Day in Atlantic Canada

Living in Atlantic Canada comes with its unique challenges.  Don't get me wrong, it comes with a lot of perks too. Incredible summers, a laid-back lifestyle, long stretches of sandy beaches, stunning scenery and a way of life like no other anywhere else in the world.  But there's the weather to contend with. The horrible weather that strikes between late September when those tropical storms and hurricanes barrel up the coast and between the months of January and March when we get dumped on with relentless snow, freezing rain and unforgiving winds. As if shoveling snow, navigating a landscape blanketed in a coating of ice or dealing with flooded basements isn't enough, there's the power outages.  I'm not just talking power outages that last a few hours, I'm talking widespread blackouts that leave tens of thousands in the dark and cold for days, sometimes even a week, at a time. 

It's not so bad when it happens in the Fall when the temperatures are above zero. It's downright dangerous when it happens in February as it did recently in Nova Scotia during a severe ice storm.  Yes, for those of you who are not familiar with the weather here, not only does snow and rain fall from the sky, ice does too. And boy, does it do a lot of damage.  Besides coating roads and structures with ice, it coats the power lines and trees with it too. You might look at a picture of this phenomenon we call Silver Thaw and think "wow, that's so pretty the way the tree branches glisten in the sun like that!"  Yeah, pretty alright. Until one of those heavy branches falls onto a power line and knocks it to the ground, plunging everyone on that grid into darkness. 

When news spread that a massive freezing rain storm was headed my way, I wasn't overly concerned. We get a lot of these storms. I'm used to them. In the back of my mind, I knew that a power outage was likely but I felt prepared despite the annoyance it would cause. I didn't realize at that time how much trouble a few hours without power could cause.  That's because it ended up being more than a few hours.  It ended up being four days. 

The day started off like any other February day in this corner of the world.  Cold and damp but with an eerie "calm before the storm" feeling in the air. The winds came up first. Then came the rain. That rain soon turned to a freeing rain that continued for about 48 hours. I lost my electricity around the fifth hour. That evening, it was still gone. Doable as long as the power company was correct and it would be back by the next morning. My fridge was still cold, the temperature in my apartment still livable as long as I kept my winter thermal gear on.  I was managing just fine with candles and flashlights. I sat in the dark watching cars go by on my darkened street.  One car.  Two cars.  Three cars.  100 cars. Wait, did I already see that car 4 times?  It occurred to me that, despite the high price of gas, many people were taking to their cars to get warm and charge their phones. At 1.50 a liter, I wasn't that desperate yet. 

 At around midnight, I tossed two thermal sleeping bags over my bed and crawled in for the long night ahead. Surprisingly, I fell asleep fairly quickly.  When I awoke, the power was still out. And by this time, the power company was saying it wouldn't be back until the next day. That caused some panic.  My first instinct was to save my precious food. With the cost of food these days, who can afford to toss out a fridge full!  I gathered up all my perishables and put them in the car where it was colder for the time being. Breakfast was out of the question. A granola bar for the road. I gathered up a toothbrush and change of clothes and headed for Dad's. 

Dad's power was out too. MacDonald's breakfast it was. MacDonald's had no power either. The mile-long lineup at the Tim Horton's drive-thru meant they had power as long as it didn't go out before we got to the window. We made it. I don't usually eat greasy breakfast sandwiches and sugary donuts but that morning, it hit the spot. 

Dad's power was back on by the time we got back. A drive-by of my neighborhood determined mine was not. Not happy with my day's routine thrown out the window and the inconveniences that come with not having power (the worry of pipes freezing), I retreated to the warmth of Dad's for the day and watched never-ending coverage of Covid-19, Freedom Truckers and the tension building up between Russia and Ukraine. By nightfall, my neighborhood was still in darkness.  I made the decision that it was too cold to stay there that night. I returned home to retrieve more of my belongings and was greeted with a scary surprise. 

 As I walked to my door, I could hear a beeping noise coming from somewhere in the darkness.  As I opened my door, I realized it was coming from inside my apartment. It took a second to realize it was my carbon monoxide detectors going off. If it had just been one going off, I would have thought perhaps the cold was affecting the batteries and triggering a false alarm. But it was two. And they were both doing the universal four quick beeps with a short pause which is the alarm indicating that there's carbon monoxide in the air and to get outdoors and call 911.  My first thought was to alert the other residents on the other side of the house. After frantic knocking, they finally came to the door. They had a gas stove going which I assumed was the cause. The alarms did not sound after the stove was turned off but I was glad I was staying at dad's that night.  It would be warm and I'd have the peace of mind in case there was danger present. 

I still felt uneasy when I returned home the next morning to check on things but everything seemed fine and the alarms weren't going off. The power company updated the date my service would return; the next evening at 11 PM. I gathered up more provisions and headed back to Dad's. 

That evening when I returned to check on things, I noticed that a mildewy smell was starting to set in.  By this time, it was so cold and damp in my apartment that I could see my breath.  The power company was now saying the power might not be back at 11 PM the next evening but the afternoon on the following day. They ran into unforeseen issues. I was losing my patience. 

After four long days, the lights came back on, the furnace kicked in and I was able to return home.  And yes, I shake my head and wonder why I go through this year after year for the last 41 years. You're probably wondering why anyone would choose to stay in a climate like this when there are so many other places to live that aren't buried in snow or covered in ice for half the year. Cape Breton summer, that's why! I endure this every winter because I know a Cape Breton summer awaits after the long cold and darkness.  If you've never experienced a Cape Breton summer, you should.  And maybe you'll never leave once you experience those long hot days by the sea and warm summer nights that are like none other I've experienced anywhere else. But you better have some long johns, some patience and some thick skin!