Police ask Haligonians to stay off roads if possible as strong winds continue (update)

Winds should start to diminish Thursday evening

CITYnews halifax \ Meghan Groff

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Halifax Regional Police are asking Haligonians to stay off the roads if possible as a wind warning continues on the municipality.

“At this point, we’re experiencing a lot of loose debris flying throughout the region and into the roadways,” Cst. John MacLeod told CityNews Halifax at around 3:30 p.m. “There’s a number of power lines down as well as power outages.”

He said those outages are affecting traffic lights throughout HRM.

Drivers who encounter them are required to treat those intersections as all-way stops.

“We’d advise the public, if they don’t need to be out on the roadways to stay indoors where it’s hopefully warm, dry and safe,” he recommended. “If they do have to go out, use caution and take extra time.”

Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency deputy chief Dave Meldrum says his crews were called to a building under construction on Quinpool Road where a person was found to be free of rebar which had fallen.

He was treated by firefighters until EHS arrived and the incident has been reported to the Department of Labour.

An earlier rainfall warning has ended in Halifax Regional Municipality, but a wind warning remains in effect. Gusts could reach 100 km/h.

“Damage to buildings, such as to roof shingles and windows, may occur,” the warning says. “High winds may toss loose objects or cause tree branches to break.”

Winds should start to diminish Thursday evening.

As of 3 p.m., over 40,000 Nova Scotia Power customers have lost electricity.

Over 25,000 are in HRM and an outage impacting Dalhousie University has resulted in the closures of its Studley and Carleton campuses.

Many businesses will be affected and some may choose to close early for the day.

Both Alderney and Woodside ferry service has been suspended until further notice, but Halifax Transit is offering a shuttle service.

Nova Scotia Power says outages can be reported by calling 1-877-428-6004 or online through the utility’s outage map.