Maritimers brace for strong winds Monday morning

Maritimers are bracing from strong winds and rain in the region Monday.

Heavy winds are expected to blow through the Maritimes on Monday, forcing many people to prepare for potential power outages and closures.

Strong wind gusts potentially exceeding 100 kms/hr are expected to hit parts of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. It will be the third Monday in a row that a storm system has moved through the Maritimes.

Environment Canada issued a strong wind warning for much of the region.

Nova Scotia Power said in a news release that it was activating its emergency operations centre on Monday to respond quickly to possible outages.

“Based on those forecasts we are expecting something very similar to last Monday, with rain and high winds for long durations across much of the province,” said Matt Drover, Nova Scotia Power’s storm lead, in the release. “High winds can cause trees to come into contact with power lines damaging equipment and causing power outages. They can also slow restoration efforts depending on the extent of the damage they cause, and force crews to stand down when winds reach 80km an hour, as it isn’t safe to be up in the buckets.”

There were 19 outages affecting 3,428 customers in the province as of 11 a.m., according to the Nova Scotia Power outage map.

The NB Power outage map reported 2,388 customers impacted by unplanned outages in Central York Sunbury, Charlotte Southwest, Kennebecasis Valley Fundy, and Victoria Madawaska.