Nova Scotians brace for another storm bringing high winds Monday

Wind warnings in effect for entire province, rainfall warnings for Cape Breton

CBC News · 

Another storm has all of Nova Scotia under wind warnings and a few rainfall warnings Monday with winds expected to gust between 80 and 100 km/h this afternoon and evening.

Ahead of the storm, the Annapolis Valley Regional Centre for Education, the South Shore Regional Centre for Education, the Tri-County Regional Centre for Educatio, École Rose-des-Vents and the South Shore Waldorf School will close three hours early on Monday, dismissing at 12 p.m.

Monday was the first day back for in-class learning for public school students after an extended Christmas break and a week of online learning due to COVID-19 precautions.

Thousands of Nova Scotians were without power Sunday, nearly 48 hours after a nor’easter slowly swept across the province.

• Nova Scotia Storm Centre: Latest closures and travel details

There were about 1,000 customers without power Monday morning with the majority of outages between Chester and Bridgewater. Restoration times vary, but many customers are being told not to expect power back until late this afternoon.

Lia MacDonald, vice-president of transmission, distribution and delivery with Nova Scotia Power, said 500 crew members worked to restore power Sunday, many on the South Shore.

The largest pockets of power outages remained in the Chester, Bridgewater and Liverpool areas, MacDonald said.

“The conditions yesterday were extremely complicated and challenging … the road conditions were particularly the issue yesterday with the whiteout conditions,” MacDonald said Sunday morning.

Wind warnings up across province

Wind warnings are now in effect for every county in the province for Monday.

Southeasterly winds that may cause damage are expected to gust 80 to 100 km/h beginning Monday afternoon and into Monday evening across the province.

Les Suêtes winds are forecast for the northern part of Inverness County on Monday with gusts expected up to 140 km/h.

Two Bay Ferry crossings have been cancelled due to the forecast.

The ferry departing from Digby, N.S. on Monday at 4 p.m. is cancelled, as well as the ferry leaving Saint John, N.B., on Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Marine Atlantic has also changed the times of multiple ferry crossings to and from North Sydney.

Rainfall warnings for Cape Breton, eastern Mainland

Meanwhile, all Cape Breton counties, as well as Guysborough County, are under rainfall warnings Monday with 20-30 millimetres expected to begin later in the day and continue into Tuesday.

With the ground still frozen, there’s a higher likelihood of flooding.

(CBC)

Any snow will change to rain and become heavy at times this afternoon into this evening. The rain is expected to taper to showers or flurries on Tuesday.

Officials recommend clearing any ice and debris from catch basins and drainage areas near your house to prevent flooding.

Warming centres set up

Municipal warming centres were set up across the province in the Lunenburg and Colchester areas.

One is at the Chester United Baptist Church at 84 King St. in Chester, opening at 9 a.m. Sunday. It was also open until midnight on Saturday, for those without power.

The Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre in Bridgewater is open until 8 p.m.

Residents use propane, wood stoves to keep warm

Cailin O’Neil in Black Point on St. Margarets Bay lost power Friday night and remained without power through Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday night, her family used the outdoor barbecue to cook dinner after warming up the propane tank inside the house.

The home was hovering around 13 C inside on Sunday as the family huddled under blankets near a propane fireplace, O’Neil said, since their generator wasn’t working.

“But we shouldn’t have to have a generator for instances like this. You know, it shouldn’t last this long,” O’Neil said Sunday morning.  “Hopefully, it comes back soon.”

Reports of frozen pipes

Barry Baker of Chester Basin said he and his wife were keeping warm with their wood stove after also losing power Friday night.

But with no running water and electricity, they were worried about the health of their tropical fish in their tanks.

“Our neighbours across the street … last night he told me it was four degrees Celsius in his house, and somebody else up the road said their pipes were frozen,” Baker said Sunday morning.

Baker said while the weekend brought a “bad storm,” he believes most of outages were because of a lack of preventative maintenance. He said that in the last few years he has rarely seen crews trimming trees or fixing rotten poles when weather is calm.

“It’s a really frustrating system,” Baker said. “If enough people complain maybe something will happen.”

MacDonald said Sunday that in addition to “ongoing inspection and maintenance,” the utility always assesses an area that has just had a storm to address any issues that might cause a problem before the next rough weather system.