Thousands without power as winter storm blows through P.E.I. overnight
CBC
A snowstorm that swept through P.E.I. overnight Friday has cut power to many homes.
Power was out for over 5,000 Maritime Electric customers as of noon Saturday, with most on the eastern half of P.EI. Scattered outages began Friday evening.
Maritime Electric spokesperson Kim Griffin said crews were out last night working to restore power, but that visibility and difficult road conditions made things challenging.
"We had crews out for a couple of hours this morning and they've already been able to restore several thousand customers," she said.
"It is slow going on Prince Edward Island. We know that our crews as well as a plow operators are out across the Island, but in some situations with these winds, some of the roads are filling up just as quickly as they can be plowed."
An Environment Canada winter storm warning issued Thursday afternoon has been lifted.
CBC meteorologist Jay Scotland said preliminary snow totals for most of the Island are between 20 and 40 centimetres, which is in line with forecast estimates.
"It may look like much more due to significant drifting with sustained winds of 50-60+ km/h and gusts of 90-100+ km/h during the height of the storm," Scotland said.
"All warnings have ended, but blowing snow is still a concern this morning and likely into the early afternoon for exposed areas as the wind continues to ease gradually through the day."
Traffic at the Confederation Bridge was restricted this morning due to high winds. But restrictions were lifted at noon.
Griffin said Maritime Electric hopes restorations pick up once the wind calms and the road situation improves.
"It was a significant storm," she said. "We are focusing on key areas and having the crews out all day today. We are hoping we can have the vast majority of our customers on today if it all goes well."
A map of the outages can be found here.
The P.E.I. government advises people not to head out on the roads unless necessary.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.