New Brunswick Power said 95 per cent of electricity had been restored to the storm-ravaged province by Sunday night, but thousands of Maritimers still remained in the dark eight days after post-tropical storm Arthur.

Fewer than 6,000 customers in New Brunswick were still without electricity Sunday night, but power had been completely restored to the remaining homes and businesses in Nova Scotia hit by the intense storm. Nova Scotia Power said the final 500 customers affected by outages were reconnected Saturday night.

The number of affected customers reached 250,000 following Arthur, which hit the Atlantic provinces hard.

New Brunswick Power spokesperson Bob Scott said the utility aimed to reach the 99-per cent mark by Tuesday.

“We’re certainly heading in the proper direction,” Scott said.

Meanwhile, relief efforts are underway to bring food and water to those who remain in the dark. Many who are without power have struggled to make contact with relief workers, as they are also without phone and Internet access.

"It's quite a hardship," said Scott Barton, one of the relief effort volunteers.

New Brunswick Power fell just short of its goal to have 90 per cent of power restored on Saturday, but it’s pressing ahead to reconnect customers living in New Brunswick's more isolated areas. The last 10 per cent of the grid is the hardest to restore, Scott said.

"We have lines tangled in trees, so it's very complicated," he said.

About 6,000 customers had their power restored on Saturday, according to NB Power.

With files from The Canadian Press

@NB_Power Never loved the blinking clock on my oven so much! We have POWER! Thanks SO much for your dedication! pic.twitter.com/jlLF9M6WEI — Kari McBride (@ExitWithKari) July 12, 2014

My son Luke's assessment of Fredericton: "Dad, let's get a truck-load of beavers. They'd really help right now and we'd make a fortune". — Brent Staeben (@BrentStaeben) July 9, 2014