About a third of the Village of McAdam are still without power as of Friday afternoon, but that doesn’t mean the community hasn’t kept warm.
On day two without power, the Lions Club opened a warming centre, and more than 50 people showed up, including a newer neighbour.
“A recent immigrant who moved to McAdam came down and she said, ‘I would like to make wonton soup for everybody,’ and we said, ‘Okay! Please, come on down,’” said Mayor Ken Stannix. “So she brought her own pots and pans and everything, she brought her own pasta maker, she rolled her own material to put inside the wontons and then she proceeded to cook it all up and she kept making that all day long. She kept people fed with a hot meal.”
Volunteer firefighters have been moving generators and heaters from one home to the next, ensuring pipes don’t freeze and homes are warm enough to go to bed in.
That includes the local nursing home, which took over an hour to warm up.
The elementary school was out of power all week until Friday morning – just in the nick of time to save their Christmas concert.
“There was a lot of elementary children, my granddaughter included, that really wanted to go and do that,” Stannix laughed.
Moments of warmth in what’s been a cold week for thousands.
“There are people who've lost a lot. I think of the food that people have lost. I think of people who haven't been able to leave their apartment floor because elevators aren't working,” said Fredericton Mayor Kate Rogers. “I’ve been thinking about all the struggles people have been having.”
There are concerns about the public’s safety heading into Friday evening and the weekend.
Temperatures have dipped, and some downed trees and lines remain.
“We had a report earlier today from the St. Stephen area that children were seen playing around a downed power line,” said N.B. EMO official Geoffrey Downey. “I don't know if it was live or not but regardless, we're really starting to get concerned that complacency's starting to creep in. Complacency and just people being tired.”
He asks people to be safe when using generators, do not use them indoors whatsoever, including garages, even if the door is open.
NB Power would not do an interview Friday, but maintains their goal is to get power back to all their customers by Christmas.
