Some N.S. residents may have to wait until Tuesday for power to be restored
Public schools across Nova Scotia were closed Monday and roughly 140,000 homes and businesses lost power at some point during a winter storm that brought wet and heavy snow to the province.
Nova Scotia Power said it had about 300 employees in the field trying to restore electricity, but the speed at which they could work was hampered by poor road conditions in some areas.
The snowfall caused significant traffic issues. Halifax police closed a stretch of Highway 118 outbound, just past Exit 13, early Monday due to a number of large trucks blocking the road. The highway has since reopened.
RCMP warned Monday morning that drivers should be careful and reported there had been multiple crashes on Highway 104 in Cumberland County and Highway 102 in Colchester County.
The amount of wet snow that fell varied across the province, but many parts saw roughly 15 to 20 centimetres.
The campuses of several universities closed for the day, including Dalhousie, Mount Saint Vincent and Saint Mary’s. Both Saint Mary’s and Mount Saint Vincent said they had lost power.
A number of Nova Scotia Community College campuses were also closed.
Nova Scotia Power said the heavy, sticky snow built up on power equipment and also brought trees and branches down on power lines, leading to outages.
Chris Lanteigne, the utility’s director of customer care, said the Halifax area and western Nova Scotia were the worst hit.
By early afternoon, the electricity was back on for tens of thousands of customers, although Lanteigne said some might have to wait until Tuesday.
“Just the extent of the damage due to the heavy, wet snow bringing trees into contact with our power lines, it will take some time for us to restore power to everyone,” he said in an interview.
A powerful nor'easter swept through Nova Scotia overnight into Monday, bringing heavy snow and high winds that caused travel disruptions and school closures. (Nathan Coleman/The Weather Network)
As of 2 p.m. AT, roughly 62,000 Nova Scotia Power customers were still without electricity.
In the Halifax area, the municipality said most transit routes are passable, but buses are on snow plans, which means some are rerouted around trouble areas. Delays are expected.
The municipality said its parking ban from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. will be in place again overnight on Monday, which means vehicles cannot be parked on streets during those hours.
The weather meant Monday was a snow day across the province for more than 100,000 elementary, junior high and high school students. In Halifax, children were out playing in the snow and building forts.
Many residents were out shovelling their walks. Mary Guildford said she woke up and saw a snapped branch and utility line down across from her Halifax home.
“I’m just relieved that nobody seems to have been hurt or anything,” she said.
Halifax, N.S. (Nathan Coleman/The Weather Network)
This article, written by Richard Cuthbertson, was originally published for CBC News.