Storm keeps crews busy
Strong winds caused power fluctuations across province; RCMP say most people heeded warnings to stay off roads
It was all hands on deck for first responders and power crews Thursday and Friday.
Snow, sleet, freezing rain, rain and strong winds kept everyone busy, although the RCMP say most people heeded warnings and stayed off the roads.
Kim Griffin, spokeswoman with Maritime Electric, said there were repeated fluctuations when it came to power outages.
“Most people on our team brought an overnight bag to work, so they were prepared in case that was needed, and we did have hotels booked,’’ Griffin said, explaining that all crews were on standby.
At the peak around noon on Friday, there were about 1,600 customers without power.
“By 11:30 a.m. (Friday) we were down to several hundred, got them back on and then (in) Bedeque we had some problems so about 1,600 customers right now that are out,’’ she said, noting that there were 25 crews out addressing the outages on Friday.
“There have been a lot of trees coming down on lines and, as the winds change (and) being strong throughout the day it’s been a real challenge for us.’’
Maritime Electric crews had to stand down for a period on Thursday night in western P.E.I. due to visibility issues, but Griffin said they were able to get most customers restored.
“We were making some pretty good headway up until about 9 or 10 (Friday) morning. We’ve got our full complement of crews out.’’
As of 4 p.m., there were still 54 individual outages, but Griffin expected they would all have been rectified by midnight.
The RCMP gave kudos to Island drivers for staying off the roads throughout the worst of it. Since noon on Thursday, there were no reports of vehicle collisions in areas policed by the RCMP and only two reports of vehicles leaving the roadway.
Both occurred on Highway 1A: one in North Bedeque and one in Traveller’s Rest. Neither vehicle sustained significant damage, and there were no injuries.
Prince District RCMP did respond to a call at 7:50 a.m. Friday on Highway 2 in Springfield in which a snowmobile trailer being towed by a pickup truck was flipped over by the wind. Both sustained some damage but there were no injuries.
“It would appear that the public heeded the warnings about this storm,’’ Staff Sgt. Kevin Baillie told The Guardian on Friday. “Definitely fewer incidents than we would normally see considering the road and weather conditions.’’
The Charlottetown Fire Department responded to four calls during the storm, but none of them were serious.
There was a call to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital at 3:45 p.m. Thursday that turned out to be nothing.
Firefighters were also called to 294 University Ave., near Island Active Wear. Fire chief Randy MacDonald said there was a report of a fire on a rooftop, but it turned out to be a false alarm.
There were even two calls to The Guardian office, both of which were related to turning on the newspaper’s
generator.
In addition, there was a call to the Charlottetown Inn and Conference Centre (former Best Western hotel) at 7:33 a.m. Friday where the furnace backfired.
All that wind doesn’t just blow tree branches down. It can wreak havoc with business signs as well.
However, Kim Martell at Sign Craft said Friday they hadn’t fielded any calls yet.
“It’s normally a couple of days after (the storm), once the winds have died down and people can actually go out and assess the damage,’’ Martell said. “That’s when we start getting the phones ringing off the hook. On a day like (Friday), even if there’s a sign down and it’s above any height we can’t send out guys out. They can’t work in the wind outside.’’