Power outages felt throughout Atlantic Canada in wake of potent spring storm

Photo: Facebook Page of Cruise Atlantic Canada

HALIFAX – Thousands of people in Atlantic Canada were without power early today after a powerful spring storm brought crippling winds and heavy snowfall to the region Wednesday.

Howling winds pulled down power lines across the Maritimes, leaving about 16,000 Nova Scotians in the dark at one point.

Outages were also affecting about 2,400 customers in southern New Brunswick and 900 customers across P.E.I.

In many areas of the region, roads were snow-covered and slippery with the Trans-Canada Highway between Truro and Amherst in Nova Scotia closed until early today.

Most schools and government offices were closed in the Maritimes on Wednesday, with schools in parts of Nova Scotia and P.E.I. shuttered again today and some offices delaying their openings.

Strong northwest winds gusting up to 100 kilometres an hour were expected to persist on Prince Edward Island, where police urged motorists to stay off the roads.

Some flights were also cancelled today in Halifax and St. John’s, N.L., a day after public transit services were cancelled throughout the region and the Confederation Bridge in P.E.I. was closed to traffic.

Gusts reached 172 kilometres per hour in parts of Cape Breton, where the Canso causeway was closed today, and 185 kilometres per hour at Wreckhouse in western Newfoundland.

In Nova Scotia, the community of Amherst received the most snow at 40 centimetres, while Halifax reported only 16 centimetres and Charlottetown received 28 centimetres.