Damages from cold snap cancel classes, medical services in Nova Scotia
There were no students inside Sydney Academy on Wednesday, instead, the school was filled with workers from a local restoration company.
“We're definitely looking at weeks, possibly months and that doesn't include the repair part of it,” said Troy MacDonald, a project manager for Meco Construction DKI in Glace Bay, N.S.
Damage from last weekend's cold snap cancelled classes the last three days, and beginning Thursday, learning will be moved online.
“A sprinkler head let go causing water to migrate from the top floor basically right down to the basement floor, affecting contents and everything involved inside the school,” said MacDonald.
Nova Scotia Health is dealing with a clean-up of its own from one end of the province to the other.
“We had about 10 facilities affected,” said Steve Button, senior director of facilities management for Nova Scotia Health. “We had 15 different events and 14 out of the 15 were water-related.”
Temporary spaces are being set up to try to lessen the impact on services.
“A lot of them did have operational impacts. Anything from dialysis in Truro, we had our kitchen go down in New Glasgow and we had respiratory and therapy impacted in a couple of locations, waiting rooms, x-ray rooms, those sorts of things,” said Button.
The cost, at this point, is unknown. The health authority’s focus is on making repairs and getting back to normal, but that could take some time.
“I would expect in the next couple of days we will know more on what our projected costs will be,” said Button.
Back in Sydney, N.S., MacDonald's team is also tasked with cleaning up the Sydney Courthouse, which flooded from a burst pipe and remains closed.
“We're very busy. We had some very large claims come in, so we're trying to get through that and of course staffing is an issue,” said MacDonald.
In an email to CTV News, a spokesperson for The Cape Breton Centre for Education said it will continue to provide updates to students and their families of the Grade 9 to 12 school as more information becomes available.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
'We have laws': Premier Smith says police action justified in Calgary
The actions, including the decision to use non-lethal force, to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters from the University of Calgary campus were justified, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Friday.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.