More than 84,000 Nova Scotia Power customers were without electricity at the height of the outages on Monday and many of them won't get power back until Tuesday evening, says the utility.

The majority of customers will be without power until at least 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nova Scotia Power spokeswoman Bev Ware said.

More people are expected to lose power, especially in northern Nova Scotia Cape Breton, as sustained winds and rain continue overnight. Those latest outages won't be repaired until Wednesday at 7 a.m. AT, Ware said.

As of 9:45 p.m. AT Monday, most of the outages were in the Halifax area, Stellarton and Sydney.

Most of the other outages are scattered throughout central and northern Nova Scotia, along with the Annapolis Valley, South Shore, Cumberland, Colchester, near the Northumberland Strait and in Cape Breton.

"Strong sustained winds all day have weakened trees and branches across the province," Ware said.

"That's causing them to fall onto power lines, so that's causing the majority of the damage."

More outages expected

Crews will be working all night, with new ones going on shift in the morning.

"They're working safely and they're working as quickly as possible to restore power," Ware said. "We know that this is frustrating for customers on the long weekend."

Nova Scotia Power has opened its emergency operations centre in Ragged Lake, N.S., for the first time since the winter. It will be staffed 24/7 by senior company leaders specially trained in storm management, who will direct crews on the ground until all power is restored, Ware said.

Heavy rain also led to flooding on highways and car crashes on Monday.

Nova Scotia Power is asking anyone who sees downed power lines to stay away from them and call 1-877-428-6004 to let crews know.