Thousands without power, big cleanup underway after Leslie hits Newfoundland

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Thousands of Newfoundlanders in St. John’s and on the Avalon Peninsula are still without power today as workers clean up debris from post-tropical storm Leslie.

Newfoundland Power says it’s working to restore power by late Wednesday or Thursday to about 9,000 customers, most of them in St. John’s.

Leslie hammered the city Tuesday with hurricane-force winds that tore apart roofs, toppled trees and snapped power lines as it soaked the island’s west coast with rain.

In St. John’s, many traffic lights are still out and city workers have started the big job of cleaning up scattered tree limbs and other debris.

No serious injuries or major evacuations were reported after the storm blew over the province and out to sea.

Leslie was a hurricane-strength post-tropical storm with maximum sustained winds clocked at 120 km/h.