Storm stayed
‘Weather bomb’ hits as predicted; high winds, snow, ice and rain cause disruptions across region
They called it a ‘weather bomb’ and it largely lived up to its name.
Thursday’s weather system, which had caused plenty of headaches for residents from Florida to the Atlantic Provinces, roared into Prince County right on schedule around 1 p.m. Environment Canada was stark in its warnings. The federal agency issued a range of winter storm warnings and watches for Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, P.E.I. and parts of Newfoundland and Labrador, saying the low-pressure system would bring fierce winds that could gust up to about 130 kilometres an hour and snowfall amounts of 40 centimetres in some areas. Islanders did their best to prepare for the weather. Schools were cancelled early in the morning before the storm arrived, most government offices and facilities closed in the early afternoon and many businesses sent employees home as the snow began.
Prince County RCMP reported some minor fender benders as people tried to get home, including one in the Travelers Rest roundabout, in addition to a car going off the road there.
The City of Summerside’s municipal works department was busy salting the roads as the snow started to fall and plows were scheduled to hit the streets around 4 p.m. Cleanup work was scheduled to start by 1 a.m. Appointments at many Health P.E.I. Facilities were also cancelled. Anyone impacted was asked to make contact to reschedule. By early afternoon, many lights were out across Nova Scotia. About 17,000 utility customers were without power as of about 1:30 p.m., many along the Atlantic coast. Power was also starting to flicker in some parts of P.E.I. by late afternoon. As of about 4 p.m., outages were being reported in Brackley Beach, Hunter River and Victoria Cross. Winds were expected to increase as the night progressed. Environment Canada indicated that the storm was expected to continue its northerly trek, with the centre of the low over located over the Gulf of St. Lawrence early Friday and packing strong winds that could see blizzard conditions in much of Labrador.