An ice storm left about 22,000 homes and businesses on Prince Edward Island without power Tuesday.
Freezing rain in the early morning created thick layers of ice that brought down more than 40 power poles, which collapsed under the weight of ice and fallen trees.
Crews are expected to work well into the night and over the coming days restoring power, but icy-roads are making their jobs even more challenging.
Utility spokesperson Kim Griffin told CTV Atlantic that Maritime Electric hoped to have most customers back on line within 48 hours.
"We've had 18 crews on the roads and we've had snowmobile crews trying to assess the damage," said Griffin.
The damage is extensive through the western part of the province, in Prince County.
Hunter River resident Thomas Bradley lost power at his home when trees fell onto power lines and crashed onto his yard.
"It was like cannons going off ... it was like listening to 105 howitzers going off -- the trees just exploded,'' he told CTV Atlantic.
In St. John's, N.L., there was flooding at the Health Sciences Centre, the province's largest hospital, due to heavy rain.
In Nova Scotia, Cape Breton and Georges River also saw flooding cause by snow followed by heavy rain. In Sydney, some properties were flooded when a brook choked with ice overflowed.
With a report by CTV Atlantic's Kelland Sundahl
