HALIFAX -- As Hurricane Teddy makes its way to Nova Scotia and other parts of the Maritimes, many people are using the weekend to prepare. While the storm is nothing new for the region, concern still exists for residents.

TEDDY'S TRAJECTORY

While Saturday was a sunny and breezy day in Nova Scotia, Teddy continued its path towards the North Atlantic – expected to hit the province's shores on Tuesday.

"Over the last 24-hours, there has been a trend, or movement, towards the eastern portion of that forecast cone," says CTV Atlantic's chief meteorologist, Kalin Mitchell, who notes sustained winds in the eye of the storm are currently 195 kilometres per hour.

A massive storm with a North-West motion, Teddy could affect more than just Nova Scotia.

"Somewhere in the vicinity of the eastern half of Nova Scotia and potentially towards western or central Newfoundland," says Mitchell, concerning the storm's trajectory.

PREPARING FOR POWERLESSNESS

Halifax Regional Municipality emergency manager, Erica Fleck, says as residents brace for Teddy's impact, doing so during a pandemic could actually set the stage for high-quality hurricane preparation.

"I think, with COVID, it did us some favours," says Fleck. "People are more prepared and better prepared to be able to stay in their homes for a few days."

Fleck says power outages are always a major concern when a hurricane hits Halifax; additionally, she notes rural outskirts of the city often face added post-storm pressures.

"With no power, they have no water because they are all on wells in the rural areas and not on city water," says Fleck. "Our biggest concern is that people always have potable water to drink."

For power utility, Nova Scotia Power, the upcoming storm will put its teams to the test concerning what they've learned from previous hurricanes, and how they'll apply that knowledge.

Nova Scotia Power storm lead, Matt Drover, says the lessons learned and implemented from post-tropical storm Dorian in 2019 mainly involves the thinning of trees to protect power lines.

"Since then, we have been focussed on vegetation management," says Drover. "Removing those trees that have been weakened by Dorian, and really making sure that we harden in our system for future storms."

For many university students, a loss of power would result in being locked out of online learning.

"When the power goes out, the Wi-Fi goes out," says university student, Ryan Callaghan. "That goes out – I don't know what to do."

PLANNING AND CASHING OUT

Atlantic Canadian Red Cross communications director, Dan Bedell, says there is plenty of time to prepare for Teddy's wrath and notes resources are available online.

"Visit our website: redcross.ca/beready," says Bedell, who notes the website has plans available for people to download and tailor to their needs. "There are a lot of things there for you to plan for your family."

Additionally, Bedell also advises people to withdraw cash from their bank as soon as possible, as credit and debit cards are useless during power outages.