STORM ‘BOMB’S’ ATLANTIC CANADA WITH POWER OUTAGES.
Storm slams P.E.I, leaves 5,700 in the dark
Hundreds of Islanders were left without power after Thursday’s storm brought howling winds, snow and rain to P.E.I. Maritime Electric spokesman Kim Griffin said Friday, up to 5,700 customers experienced power outages as a result of the storm.
The utility had 15 crews working to restore power on Thursday night, but deteriorating weather conditions culminated with them standing down. Environment Canada warned the entire province to be careful of the damaging winds that may “toss loose objects or cause tree branches to break.” Crews continued to restore power across the Island on Friday. By 4 p.m. all but approximately 54 customers on P.E.I. had power restored.
Very strong southwest winds, gusting to 80 km/h with even higher gusts over exposed areas near the coast, continued to slam the area most of Friday. Elsewhere, work crews were fanning out across parts of Atlantic Canada after the fierce winter storm blasted the region with hurricane-force winds that flooded coastal roads, knocked out power and lashed waterfronts with surging seas. Tens of thousands of people in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia woke up in the dark due to power outages linked to winds that gusted up to 170 kilometres an hour at their highest in Grand Etang, N.S., as part of a system being dubbed a “weather bomb.’’ By 11 a.m. local time, Nova Scotia Power was reporting 2,000 outages affecting almost 83,000 customers, while NB Power was dealing with 140 outages that affected 16,000 customers.
Dominic Fewer of Nova Scotia’s Emergency Management Office said it was still too early to accurately assess the extent of the damage throughout Nova Scotia, but some roadways were washed out and others littered with debris due to the surge and heavy rains.
A stretch of boardwalk at the Historic Properties on Halifax’s waterfront had flooded around a large Canada 150 sign, while the surge overran a short causeway connecting the Armdale Yacht Club to the peninsula.
The storm also closed schools for a second straight day in parts of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and P.E.I., and was hampering air travel and ferry service in several areas.
In New Brunswick, crews began clearing away mounds of snow that began piling up when the slow-moving, low-pressure system moved into the area Thursday afternoon. The highest snowfall was recorded at Pokemouche, which got a staggering 58 centimetres, while Big River nearby got 50 centimetres of snow. Fredericton reported 25 centimetres of snow early Friday.
Linda Libby, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said the system was expected to move toward Anticosti Island as it tracked up the Gulf of St. Lawrence near Labrador.