Wet and slippery conditions were ongoing in the Maritimes Monday as more freezing rain blanketed the region.
Freezing rain and rain warnings remain in effect for New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
The northern parts of New Brunswick are experiencing the most significant ice buildup. Freezing rain is expected to continue in some areas through Tuesday morning.
All schools in New Brunswick were closed Monday. New Brunswick students were also absent from school Friday due to similar disorderly conditions.
The Moncton Fire Department, in Moncton, NB, received several calls Monday for downed power lines.
“A lot of ice has built up on telephone poles and tree limbs. What that does is tree branches come down and touch the high power lines and bow out, which sometimes causes a fire. We’ve had a couple of telephone poles on fire,” said Keith Guptill, platoon leader for the Moncton Fire Department.
Guptill worries his firefighters won’t be able to reach people if city streets turn icy surfaces.
“We’ve even had cases where guys would get out of the truck and if they didn’t have the cleats that we provided, their feet would slide right out from under them,” he said.
“I want my crews to be safe as they try to keep the people of the city of Moncton safe.”
Several schools in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island were also closed due to power outages.
In Nova Scotia, rain warnings remain in effect along the coast, with Les Su̻tes Wind Warnings issued for Inverness County РMabou and the north.
The onslaught of rain has also caused localized flooding due to frozen or saturated ground.
POWER OUTAGES
More than 56,000 Nova Scotia Power customers were off the grid early Monday morning, most in the Halifax area due to a “transmission outage.”
In a tweet around 8:30 a.m., Nova Scotia Power said the outages were related to the utility’s transmission connection to New Brunswick. He says the connection to the tie was lost, causing the electrical system to “become unstable.”
This morning’s outages were related to an issue with our transmission tie to New Brunswick. We lost connection, causing our system to become unstable. As a result, we had to reduce the electricity consumption of customers, until we were able to stabilize the system.
— Nova Scotia Power (@nspowerinc) January 16, 2023
The utility company says it was necessary to reduce customer consumption until the system stabilized.
The tweet says that one of the loops was able to reconnect, restoring power.
Nova Scotia Power says the cause of the problem is being investigated.
The utility company also says there is a significant buildup of ice on trees and electrical equipment in the northeastern part of the province.
As of 5:30 p.m., the number of customers without power had dropped significantly, down to around 1,500.
At the time, in New Brunswick, more than 14,000 NB Power customers, most in the Moncton, Shediac and Kent County areas, were in the dark.
Earlier on Monday, NB Power said it was sending workers from areas not affected by the outages to the Moncton and Bouctouche regions.
The utility company said that in some cases, all-terrain vehicles have been needed to carry out repairs in remote areas.
NB Power’s Marc Belliveau says the length of outages could depend on where you live.
“In many cases, especially with a transmission interruption, when we can fix it, it will restore power to thousands of people at one time,” he said. “So, we expect some of them to be taken care of today.”
In PEI, 11 Maritime Electric customers were without power as of 5:30 p.m., a significant decrease from 8 a.m. Monday, when 169 customers were in the dark.
TRANSPORTATION
Weather conditions are making road and water travel difficult.
Marine Atlantic canceled crossings between North Sydney, NS and Port aux Basques, NL on Monday.
The ferry service said it also anticipates the following Tuesday sailings will be affected by conditions in Cabot Sound:
- North Sydney to Port aux Basques at 12:30 pm
- Port aux Basques to North Sydney at 11:45am
Bay Ferries said Monday’s 9am departure from Saint John, NB, and the 4pm departure from Digby, NS, were canceled due to high surf and wind speeds exceeding operating limits for “safety , passenger comfort and safe docking”
