Winter storm brings mix of freezing rain, snow and high winds to Nova Scotia

Maritimers clean up from winter storm Winter storm brings mix of freezing rain, snow and high winds to Maritimes. Eilish Bonang reports.

Crews are working to restore power after a winter storm left thousands of Nova Scotians in the dark.

“We have more than 500 people in the field responding to this storm, as well as hundreds more behind the scenes supporting this restoration work,” said Matt Drover, Nova Scotia Power’s Storm Lead in a news release.

“Overnight, our crews experienced white out conditions, high winds and difficult travel conditions which prevented us from reaching some areas to restore power.”

Nova Scotia Power said power line technicians, forestry teams, damage assessors and traffic control crews have been working through the storm.

As of 7 a.m. on Saturday, crews restored power to over 25,000 customers.

“This is the second significant winter storm to hit Nova Scotia in a week and despite the challenging conditions, we are continuing to respond to outages as safely and as quickly as we can,” Drover said. “We encourage all of our customers to stay safe too. If you see any downed power lines please stay at least 20m away and call 911.”

As of 11 a.m. on Saturday, more than 50,000 customers were without electricity.

SNOW CLEARING OPERATIONS

High winds and additional snowfall is expected to continue in parts of mainland Nova Scotia Saturday, as a nor’easter sweeps across the province.

The Halifax Regional Municipality said in a news release Saturday morning that snow clearing operations were underway and crews were applying de-icing materials to streets.

Officials said Halifax Transit bus, Access-A-Bus and ferry service would resume service at noon on Saturday.

SUPPORT FOR THOSE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS

An emergency shelter that opened Friday night to provide temporary emergency shelter to occupants of homeless encampments in Halifax will remain open overnight Saturday.

According to the municipality, those at the shelter will be provided with comfort kits and food.

St. Matthew’s Church will continue to operate as a warming centre during daytime hours until Monday.

FLOODING IN CAPE BRETON

In Cape Breton, rain changed to freezing rain on Saturday morning.

Some roads in the Sydney area were also closed due to flooding.

BLOOD COLLECTION IN SPRYFIELD CLOSED

Blood collection services are closed Saturday due to a power outage at the Spryfield Shopping Centre - Community Wellness Centre.

Officials say patients are being redirected to Bayers Road Blood Collection in Halifax.

Nova Scotia Health said Saturday the storm is also having an impact on some services and appointments in the province.

Cancellations or closures are posted on Nova Scotia Health’s website.

HALIFAX WINTER PARKING BAN CONTINUES

The Halifax Regional Municipality said the overnight winter parking ban will continue to be enforced in both Zone 1 – Central and Zone 2 – Non-Central.

That means vehicles must be off municipal streets between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.

Regardless of the status of an overnight winter parking ban, the municipality said vehicles can be towed, day or night, at any time of year, if they are interfering with snow-clearing operations.

Officers will also be ticketing vehicles obstructing sidewalk clearing.

The overnight winter parking ban is in effect until March 31.