People in Nova Scotia are digging out after a historic multi-day snowfall slammed the province, with many schools across the province closed Monday and Cape Breton Regional Municipality under a local state of emergency.
Parts of the island had received more than 80 centimetres by Sunday evening, prompting officials to ask residents to stay off the roads.
Cape Breton Regional Police Const. Gary Fraser said the force received more than 550 calls for service over the weekend, including 30 car accidents and “many many many stranded motorists and abandoned vehicles.”
“So a lot of people didn’t heed the warnings and stay off the roads,” said Fraser, adding that road conditions were still “terrible” on Monday morning.
“Please be part of the solution, not the problem. Stay off the roads.”
CBRM mayor Amanda McDougall said the seven-day state of emergency gives the municipality the authority to control or prohibit travel and to authorize qualified persons to provide aid.
“It gives us a bit of authority to go above what we’re able to do regularly,” said McDougall on Sunday.
Fraser said the current focus is clearing roadways for emergency vehicles.
Fire crews also were busy battling a structure fire in Sydney on Monday morning.
“Eight people were living there and managed to get out. So there’s eight people that will be displaced until they can find another place to live,” he said.
CBC meteorologist Ryan Snoddon said many in the province are calling to mind a February 2004 storm dubbed by locals as “White Juan,” a nor’easter blizzard that dropped more than 100 centimetres of snow on some areas of Atlantic Canada — five months after Hurricane Juan caused widespread damage in the Maritimes.
“It’s safe to say this is the most historic winter storm to hit Nova Scotia since White Juan in 2004,” said Snoddon.
He said depending on final official numbers, this may be the largest multi-day snowfall event for the Sydney area since Jan. 31 to Feb. 4, 1992, when 102 centimetres fell at Sydney Airport.
All Cape Breton-Victoria Regional Centre for Education and Strait Regional Centre for Education schools and worksites are closed Monday. Halifax Regional School Board has also closed all of its schools while Conseil scolaire acadien provincial, the province’s French school board, has closed some of its schools.
Many flights at Halifax Stanfield International Airport are cancelled. Marine Atlantic has also cancelled some of its crossings from North Sydney to Port aux Basques, N.L.
School closures
The following schools and school boards are closed Monday.
- Halifax Regional Centre for Education
- Annapolis Valley Regional Centre for Education
- Chignecto Central Regional Centre for Education
- South Shore Regional Centre for Education
- Strait Regional Centre for Education
- Digby schools in the Tri-County Regional Centre for Education are closed. Schools in Shelbrune and Yarmouth are open.
- Cape Breton Victoria Regional Centre for Education
- École des Beaux-Marais
- École Bois-Joli
- École du Carrefour
- École secondaire Mosaïque
- École du Grand-Portage
- École Beaubassin
- École secondaire du Sommet
- École Mer et Monde
- École acadienne de Truro
- École acadienne de Pomquet
- École Beau-Port
- École NDA
- École de Torbé
- Centre scolaire Étoile de l’Acadie
Travel
- Transit Cape Breton is not operating Monday.
- Halifax Transit has resumed service, but check for individual route cancellations.
- The 11:45 a.m. crossings from North Sydney to Port aux Basques and Port aux Basques to North Sydney have been cancelled.
