Gruelling days and gratitude for Canadian linemen helping with U.S. hurricane outages

Quebecer Stephan Perreault and his team of linemen have been helping restore power in North Carolina since Hurricane Helene hit in late September, and they don't expect to be heading home any time soon.

They are some of the hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of Canadian line workers who have been called into service to help rebuild power grids after Helene and now Hurricane Milton have left millions of Americans in the dark.

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Perreault says the linemen have witnessed scenes of devastation while working 16 hours per day in challenging conditions that include washed out roads and power grids that have been destroyed.

Ontario's Hydro One and Nova Scotia Power have sent crews to help with Milton, which made landfall late Wednesday in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane, while Perreault says the pair of New Brunswick-based companies he works for have more than 700 people from several provinces on the ground.

Daniel Dumas of Quebec-based power line company EEA says the teams in the United States have been rebuilding the washed-out North Carolina grid while living 16 people to a trailer and eating at a food tent in a makeshift workers camp.

But he says they're encouraged by the gratitude shown to the Canadian crews by citizens who greet them as heroes while offering food, coffee and thanks.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.