Saturday, February 9, 2013

StormCentre: EMO Update For South Shore

Updates from local emergency management officials for the South Shore: This information has been kindly provided the Nova Scotia's EMO office and it's Facebook page.

Yarmouth - Very little snow accumulation.

Argyle - Flooding of one road in Pubnico during storm surge. (normal for this area). Road now okay.

Barrington/Clark's Harbour - Major storm surge. 1-2 metres. Several roads were awash at 8:30 but all are back open now. Wharf debris washed up on some roads. No one was a risk and no one was isolated. Anywhere with an eastern exposure was affected. Power outage has resulted in a comfort centre being opened at 11 am in Centerville Community Centre. ETR for outage is 11 pm.

Shelburne - Similar conditions as Barrington. All roads are back open now. TIR reported that storm surge is the biggest that they have seen in this area since Ground Hog day storm in 1976. All getting back to normal.

Queens County - Lower parking lot area of Liverpool flooding but this is normal. Western Head Causeway that was destroyed by Hurricane Bill had a couple of the 2000 lb barriers breached. These blocks were used to repair the causeway and have held up until today. Road is passable.

Lunenburg County - Flooding near Sobeys in Bridgewater at height of storm surge but this is typical. 25 cms of snow and still falling.

StormCentre: Serious Flooding Along Shelburne Waterfront

A number of communities along the South Shore are dealing with flooding due to elevated sea-levels due to storm surge. In Shelburne, officials with the municipality took to Twitter this morning to ask residents to stay home and away from Dock Street. The historic section of the waterfront in Shelburne is submerged in water. Here's a shot of the situation along the waterfront in Shelburne.

StormCentre: Lengthy Power Outage In Barrington


A lengthy power outage in the Barrington area has forced emergency officials to open a comfort centre on Cape Sable Island. EMO co-ordinator Jim Newell says the centre will be set up at the Centreville Fire Hall. Nearly 2,000 residents of the Barrington area have been without power for more than eight hours. According to Nova Scotia Power's outage map, crews hope to restore electricity late tonight (11PM). The outage is due to high wind gusts and snow. Newell says it will give people a warm place to stay and ride out the storm. He says they will offer residents some coffee, tea and light refreshments.

StormCentre: Dozens of Stores Closed & Events Postponed


Dozens of businesses and stores are closed today as blizzard and storm surge warnings remain in effect for the South Shore. Crews are working to clean up nearly 15 centimetres of snow that fell overnight in Lunenburg, Queens and Shelburne. Forecasters are predicting another 30 centimetres of snow today for parts of Nova Scotia. Some areas of Queens and Shelburne counties are being whipped by winds of up to 100 kilometres an hour, cutting visibility to almost zero. Numerous flights have been cancelled at Halifax Stanfield International Airport. The Maritime Bus Company has cancelled all of it's morning routes. Here is a complete list of cancellations

StormCentre: Power Outages, High Winds, Cancellations


High winds are behind power outages and tricky driving conditions throughout the South Shore. Roughly 8,000 Nova Scotia Power cutomers are without electricity this morning. The largest outages are in the Barrington, Pubinco, Shelburne and St. Margaret's Bay areas. Meanwhile, snow clearing crews are working hard to knock down massive snow drifts in many areas of the South Shore. The region is waking up to high winds and white out conditions after about 15 centimetres of snow fell overnight. Forecasters are predicting 30 to 40 centimetres of snow today for parts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and up to 30 centimetres for Prince Edward Island. Some parts of Queens and Shelburne are being whipped by winds of up to 100 kilometres an hour, cutting visibility to almost zero. Dozens of today's flights have been cancelled at Halifax Stanfield International Airport. For a complete list of cancellations around the South Shore click here or visit our our web site at www.ckbw.ca

Nova Scotia Power's - Outage Map

Maritime Bus has cancelled morning routes - updates can be found here

Road Conditions - up to date information can be found here


Here is the latest forecast from Environment Canada: Blizzard and Storm Surge Warning in Effect.

Today: Snow at times mixed with ice pellets this morning. Snow and ice pellet amount 5 cm for Queens, Shelburne, Yarmouth counties. Expect 10-15 centimetres of snow for Lunenburg county. Blowing snow. Wind northeast 60 km/h gusting to 80 except gusting to 120 along the coast this morning and early this afternoon. High minus 1 except temperature steady near minus 6 inland.

Tonight: Periods of snow ending overnight then cloudy (Queens, Shelburne, Yarmouth). Amount 5 cm (another 10 centimetres expected for Lunenburg county). Blowing snow. Wind northwest 50 km/h gusting to 80. Low minus 9.

Sunday..clearing late in the morning. Wind gusts to 60 diminishing to 20 in the evening. High minus 3.