Nova Scotians assess damage after storm

The powerful remnants of Hurricane Noel knocked out power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses, and damagedproperty and roadsaround Nova Scotia overnight.

Even though Nova Scotia was the hardest hit of the Atlantic provinces, one homeowner said it could have been much worse.

"We got hit hard in Hurricane Juan as well so we have another messy day of cleanup," said Sean Sturge, assessing the toppled tree that tore off the front porch of his house in south-end Halifax.

"But everybody is OK andour kids slept through it, so all in all not a bad night."

Noel was no Hurricane Juan, the category 2 storm thatkilled several people and left 300,000 customers without power when it tore through theprovince in September 2003.

Noel, which was downgraded to a tropical storm on Saturday,blew in toNova Scotiaearly Sunday morning withwinds gusting to 100 kilometres per hour in many areas.The highestgusts were recordedon McNabs Island in Halifax Harbour, at 135 km/h.

Several areas in western Nova Scotiareceived up to 70 to 75 millimetres of rain, though there were reports of 130 mm in one partof northern Cape Breton.

There are no reports of deathsrelatedtoNoel. About 170,000 homes and businesses one-third of Nova Scotia Power's customer base lostelectricitybecause of toppled trees and power lines.

By Sunday afternoon, the utilty said power had been restored to 40 per cent of those who lost it. However, the utility said it could be late Tuesday night before power was reconnected in 31 communities.

"Right now we want people to have a really realistic understanding of just how significant the damage is," spokeswoman Margaret Murphy told CBC News.

Nova Scotia Power said it had sent 175 crews all available employees to assess and repair the damage. Another 37 crews from Hydro-Qubec and Maine are heading for the province, and additional help from New England and perhaps New Brunswick may be available Monday.

Hospital loses part of roof

The high windsknocked bricks off the side of an apartment complex in Halifax, damaging several unoccupied cars. In Dartmouth, an elderly couple was forced out of their home when the wind blew the roof off their trailer.

The wind pried away one-third of the roof off Simpson Hall,oneof the buildings at the Nova Scotia Hospital, forcing officials there to move patients on the top floor.

Down the shore at Queensland Beach, a section of the roadwas torn upto the point thatsomeresidents said it looked like an earthquake had hit.

One witnesstold CBC Newsthat waves that seemedto be as tall as an office building swept upto her front yard, littering it with small boulders.

Though the weather had improved by late Sunday morning, RCMPwere urging people to stay off the roads and avoid the coastlines. One personwho slipped on the rocks at Peggy's Cove was taken to hospital.

"We have RCMP officers down in that area trying to advise people to stay off the rocks for their own personal safety," said Cpl. Joe Taplin.

In the Windsor area, the Canadian Red Cross opened "comfort centres" to help people cope with what could beextended power outages.

Most buses in the Halifax region were back to their usual routes, but the ferries connecting the province to Prince Edward Island and Newfoundlandwere still not running by noon Sunday. Some flights out of theHalifaxairportwere delayed or cancelled.

While still a hurricane, Noel killed more than 100 people as it blew through theCaribbeanearlier in the week before headingnorth through the Atlantic.