Teddy has arrived in Nova Scotia as a post-tropical storm, bringing plenty of wind and rain for the province on Wednesday.
It made landfall in the Sheet Harbour area on the province’s Eastern Shore around 7:30 a.m. AT, according to CBC meteorologist Tina Simpkin. It had picked up forward speed early Wednesday to arrive about two hours ahead of schedule.
“It’s progressing as we expected,” Paul Mason, executive director of the province’s Emergency Management Office (EMO) told CBC’s Information Morning before 8 a.m.
The Sackville River is spilling its banks here in Bedford this morning, following the heavy rain from <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Teddy?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Teddy</a>. <br>Not the first time Bud Bremner Park has been underwater, but it’s pretty remarkable considering how low river levels were prior to this event. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/nsstorm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#nsstorm</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/nswx?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#nswx</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/CBCNS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@CBCNS</a> <a href=”https://t.co/oWBSW5yfKK”>pic.twitter.com/oWBSW5yfKK</a>
—@ryansnoddon
He said they are mostly keeping an eye on the areas east and north of Halifax, including the Eastern Shore and Cape Breton, where damage from the storm surge and high waves is most likely.
Those on the left side of the storm track will get the heaviest rain, while the right side will have the strongest winds.
Thousands of customers throughout the province saw outages on Wednesday, including up to 9,000 at the peak on Wednesday morning. As of just before 10 a.m., about 3,600 customers were still in the dark.
WATCH | Atlantic Canada braces for remnants of Hurricane Teddy:
Restoring power
Mark Sidebottom, Nova Scotia Power’s chief operating officer, told CBC’s Information Morning that the outages have been related to winds bringing down tree limbs and power lines.
The overnight crews were successful in restoring power to about 16,000 customers around the province, he said.
There are 300 crews responding directly to the storm, with the morning shift hitting the ground at 6 a.m.
Because the winds are expected to strengthen in the Eastern Shore and Cape Breton on Wednesday, Sidebottom said they have a “really good contingent” set up there.
Customers should have their power restored Wednesday, Sidebottom said, but he urged people to check the outage map for the latest estimates.
The storm will weaken as it travels across eastern Nova Scotia and into the southeastern Gulf of St. Lawrence late Wednesday morning.
Wind and tropical storm warnings are in effect for most of the Atlantic coastline of Nova Scotia from Halifax to Cape Breton, where wind gusts of 80 to 110 km/h are expected, according to Environment Canada.
Northern Nova Scotia is under a tropical-storm watch with winds possibly gusting 70 to 90 km/h during the afternoon.
Rainfall warnings are in effect for northern and eastern Nova Scotia. About 30 to 50 millimetres has already fallen overnight, with the exception of Victoria County in Cape Breton, which has already seen 90 to 120 millimetres.
Large pools of water are being reported on several highways today. Please adjust your speed to avoid hydroplaning and keep a safe distance between yourself and other vehicles. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/RCMPNS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#RCMPNS</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Teddy?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Teddy</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/NSStorm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#NSStorm</a>
—@RCMPNS
Storm-surge warnings are also in effect along the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia from the Halifax area through to eastern Cape Breton County.
Just before 10 a.m., the southern half of the province seemed to be mostly out of the woods: no weather alerts or warnings were in place for Lunenburg, Queens, Shelburne, Yarmouth, Digby, Annapolis and Kings counties.
Waves, storm surge to create most dangerous conditions
Large swells will continue along the Atlantic coast Wednesday morning with waves of eight to 10 metres and breaking higher along parts of the coast.
Environment Canada said the highest risk for the province is the very large waves combining with the storm surge to cause dangerous conditions along the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia.
‘Important to stay safe’
Rough and pounding surf, localized flooding and infrastructure damage and erosion are likely in vulnerable areas, even outside high tide between noon and 1 p.m.
People are being urged to not go near the coastline to check out the storm.
“It’s important to stay safe. Don’t be out on the roads if you don’t need to be,” EMO Minister Chuck Porter said Wednesday morning.
Porter said so far most Nova Scotians have paid attention to the warnings, and he was happy to see a “very high” compliance rate from residents.
The storm will then continue to diminish as it moves across the eastern Gulf of St. Lawrence in the afternoon and toward northern Newfoundland on Wednesday night.
Simpkin said by Wednesday afternoon the heavy rain will end from west to east in Nova Scotia and taper off in the evening for the eastern mainland as gusting winds take hold.
In Halifax, bus and ferry transit service are still suspended due to the storm and will resume no earlier than noon on Wednesday.
As of early Wednesday, school had been cancelled for many regions around the province.
Check Nova Scotia’s Storm Centre for more updates.
