Ferry cancellations announced in Atlantic Canada, Confederation Bridge restriction due to coastal storm

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Heavy rain, high wind for some as storm passes

Ferry crossings cancelled Tuesday due to storm

Upwards of 60 millimetres of rain fell in the Sydney, N.S., area Tuesday. City crews were hard at work trying to give the water a place to go.

“Catch basins, they’re about as full and clogged as they can get at this time of year because of all the fallen leaves,” said Christina Lamey, with the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

Water buildup on the roads and hydroplaning conditions on the highway made travel treacherous at times.

Despite the driving conditions, the Cape Breton Regional Municipality says all the rain is welcome.

“We’ve been experiencing drought conditions that we’ve never seen, and having rain like this is a very good help to it but it’s not everything. It takes a lot, and I mean several days of rain like this – or over the course of a month – many days of rain to kind of mitigate some of the damage that has been done from the drought,” said Lamey.

Portage, N.S., resident Clayton Osmond has been living with a dry well for some time. He says Tuesday’s rain didn’t make much of an impact and he’ll need more of it before winter.

“Earlier projections I heard were 150 mm before winter came and the ground freezes, so this will get us close,” said Osmond.

A sentiment echoed by the municipality.

“If we get into winter still being very dry, the winter is not great for filling wells again, so we’re hoping for a wet fall,” said Lamey.

Weather warnings

A series of special weather statements and wind warnings remain in place across P.E.I. and eastern Nova Scotia.

There will be periods of heavy rain, totaling up to 75 mm, for eastern parts of the Maritimes Tuesday. Northwest wind gusts of up to 90 km/h are also expected across the region until Wednesday.

Nova Scotia-Newfoundland

The weather caused the cancellation of ferry crossings between North Sydney and Port aux Basques, N.L. The 11:45 a.m. North Sydney departure on Wednesday has also been cancelled in addition to the 11:45 a.m. Port aux Basques departure.

“We’re seeing a short window of reprieve tomorrow evening where we probably will get a couple of sailings in, but then we see another system come in on Thursday which will impact crossings on Thursday and Friday,” said Darrell Mercer, director of communications for Marine Atlantic.

New Brunswick – Prince Edward Island

The Confederation Bridge from P.E.I. to New Brunswick is also restricting certain classes of vehicles from crossing due to high winds.

“Restricted classes include automobiles towing trailers, motorcycles, high sided vehicles including trucks, tractor trailers, recreational vehicles, and buses,” a release said.

The bridge restrictions were put in Tuesday afternoon and will be ongoing until further notice.

Prince Edward Island-Nova Scotia

Sailings between Wood Islands, P.E.I., and Caribou, N.S., were cancelled Tuesday. High winds are expected in the Northumberland Strait for Wednesday as well. The ferry service says additional sails were also cancelled for Wednesday:

• 7 a.m.
• 8:30 a.m.
• 10 a.m.
• 11:45 a.m.