Members of the Port Medway Fire Department Auxiliary: Vincent Dieras, Deb Noble, Deb Lemon, Barbara Parnell, Sandi Simpson and Darlene Norman. (Rick Conrad)

As people around Queens County woke up Monday morning to power outages, volunteers at the Port Medway Fire Hall were busy giving people a place to warm up and get something to eat.

The Port Medway Fire Department Auxiliary opened the hall to everyone who needed it. They started preparing food at 6:30 Monday morning and still hadn’t stopped Wednesday afternoon.

“Port Medway is a very special community and for years it has always looked after itself,” says Darlene Norman, president of the auxiliary.

“Whenever there is an emergency or a power outage, this hall immediately becomes open and there’s always prepared home-cooked meals.”

“It’s open 24 hours a day until the power comes back on,” says auxiliary member Deb Lemon, “so even in the middle of the night you can come and recharge and warm up.”

Norman and Lemon are part of a team of about a dozen volunteers who have served three meals a day since early Monday, feeding up to 35 people at a time.

“We do scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon,” Norman says.

“One day for lunch, we had pizzas, one day we did sandwiches up. We did the best spaghetti and meatballs that people said they ever had. We had homemade cheese biscuits, homemade chicken soup.”

The fire hall has a diesel-powered generator so that it can open to anyone after storms, hurricanes and power outages. A Nova Scotia Power crew even stopped in on Wednesday for lunch.

It’s a place for people to find comfort as well as community.

“Anyone without power,” Norman says. “Mill Village people were here, there were people from over in West Berlin, East Berlin, … everyone knows, when it’s open, it’s open.

“This is a real community. It’s small, everyone’s compacted because of the way this community is designed, people know each other. It’s social, people come play cards. And whether or not you’re a member of the auxiliary it really doesn’t have a bearing on if you come in and help in this kitchen.”

MIke Vandale, left, and three friends play cards on Wednesday at the Port Medway Fire Hall. (Rick Conrad)

Mike Vandale, who lives in East Port Medway, was still without power Wednesday morning, so he was at the hall for some breakfast and a game of cribbage with three friends.

“It’s been fantastic. The auxiliary have performed above and beyond all expectations. Fantastic.

“Camaraderie, food, warmth, friendship. It’s a great place to come and see everybody and catch up on the news.”

Vandale adds, laughing: “Misery loves company.”

Norman says there are a lot of younger retirees in the small fishing village who have the time and energy to pitch in when needed.

Even when they’re not offering free meals during power outages, the hall welcomes the community for a free lunch every Wednesday. That’s in addition to their regular dances, bingo nights and other events.

People show their appreciation for the free meals by leaving generous donations. And Norman and Lemon say management at the Sobeys in Liverpool has also been supportive, giving the group a $50 gift card so they could stock up on groceries this week.

“That’s the community rubbing off on everybody else around us,” Lemon says.

Most of Port Medway had been reconnected as of Wednesday afternoon. A Nova Scotia Power spokeswoman told QCCR that crews were working to restore power to more than 200 customers in Queens County as of 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The Port Medway Fire Hall isn’t an official comfort centre. And it wasn’t the only place in Queens County offering help during the outage. Eight other locations were offering various services. You can check out the list on the Region of Queens website here.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen to the audio version of this story below

Schools are closed and power is out around Queens County as the area got its first significant snowstorm of the season. (Rick Conrad)

The season’s first significant snowfall in Queens County knocked out power for many, with schools and some businesses closing for the day or delaying their opening.

About 20 centimetres of heavy snow fell, while power was out in many parts of the county, with Nova Scotia Power reporting about 130,000 outages across the province.

The outage map, however, wasn’t displaying all outages correctly. Residents reported outages throughout south Queens, including Port Medway, Eagle Head, Beach Meadows and Brooklyn. But the map was showing very few households affected.

The Port Medway Fire Department has set up a comfort centre at the fire hall for those without power.

The Region of Queens administrative offices were closed for the day. The South Shore Regional Centre for Education closed schools for the day.

If you’re in the Liverpool area, follow this link to see expected snowclearing response times.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Nova Scotia Power crews at work on Waterloo Street on Monday. (Rick Conrad photo)

A power outage in parts of Liverpool has closed two schools and some downtown businesses for the day.

Wickwire Academy and South Queens Middle School are closed because of the power outage just before 5 a.m. Monday.

Nova Scotia Power says it’s because of a “transmission interruption”. It affects 728 customers. The company originally said Monday morning it expected power to be restored by 3 p.m. But its outage map now says power should be restored by 8 p.m.

The outage has hit parts of downtown Liverpool and extends to Old Port Mouton and White Point roads.

A house in Halifax feels the effect of Hurricane Fiona. Photo Ed Halverson

Hurricane Fiona blew by Queens saving its full fury for other parts of Nova Scotia.

Power is almost completely restored in Queens and clean-up is underway in the wake of Hurricane Fiona.

The South Shore managed to avoid the devastation experienced in northern parts of the province and Cape Breton.

Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman says municipal staff were getting ready well in advance of the storm.

“Probably about a week ahead when it looked like something was coming our way our public works department started clearing out storm drains, ditches, picking up as much debris as possible,” said Norman. “When it became very clear that Fiona was indeed going to impact Nova Scotia then equipment was put down, you know any unneeded signs, people noticed the Main Street area that detour signs those were put away. At Beach Meadows we put away our mobi mat. We prepared ourselves.”

Norman says residents also took the warnings seriously and took steps to weather Fiona.

“It was also great to see people preparing themselves. People were flipping their trampolines and they were putting away lawn furniture and they themselves were getting prepared.” Said Norman.

According to Nova Scotia Power over 50,000 customers were affected in the Western Zone of Nova Scotia, including Queens.

Most of the power failures were a result of trees either falling on or bringing down power lines.

Restoration efforts got underway Friday night and as of Monday morning only a few homes in Queens County remain in the dark.

Many people were unable to communicate following the storm as cell service across all providers was down in many areas of the province.

Life in Queens is returning to normal as schools across the South Shore reopened Monday.

Several comfort stations that were opened immediately following the storm have been closed with the exception of Queens Place which is still offering access to showers, by appointment.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

To listen to the broadcast of this story, press play below.