High winds, heavy rain expected to hit Saint John, N.B., overnight Wednesday

It was the calm before the storm for much of the day in Saint John, N.B., Wednesday.

With upwards of 40 millimetres of rain and 100km/h wind gusts expected to fall on the city overnight, residents were enjoying the sights the incoming storm brought to the Bay of Fundy coastline, like big waves crashing onto the shores of the Irving Nature Park beach.

“You can actually feel it in your vehicle,” one resident told CTV News Atlantic while sitting in her car enjoying the views. “The waves, the wind, they speak to you.”

Some of the heaviest rain for the area is expected between 10 p.m. Wednesday and 4 a.m. Thursday. Rainfall warnings are in effect for the majority of the province.

Anglers prepared for the weather ahead of time, with all fishing huts now off the ice and put away until next year.

“We have been using social media and some places to get the word out that folks if you want to save your shelter and save yourself a lengthy dig out later on, it might be worth while to go take them off the ice now,” says Dominion Park Ice Fishing Association chair Chris Hardt. “It’s never been really super cold all winter so thin ice coupled with all this inbound weather going to possibly break up quite a bit of it or open some of the cracks up that are out there. It’s all good to have the ice nice and clear.”

Major flooding around the city had yet to be reported by late afternoon Wednesday. Saint John’s Emergency Management Organization knows that likely won’t be the case heading into the overnight hours, especially when high tide rolls in around 2:30 a.m.

“The combination of the high tide as well as the intensity of rain, likely we are going to see some issues during the overnight period in terms of flooding across different roadways,” says Tim O’Reilly, the director of Public Works for the City of Saint John.

Saint John Energy is also a part of the Saint John EMO team, with their focus on the 100km/h wind gusts slated to blow overnight.

“You’ll end up having some of the tress that would want to blow into our lines,” says Dana Young, the lead of Saint John Energy’s Emergency Restoration team. “Or you’ll have limbs snapping off coming across one or two phases and putting out an entire feeder which would affect 1,000 or more customers in an instance.”

Young also notes crews are prepped and already on the roads monitoring the situation. He says six internal crews, plus access to other teams and resources will be prepared for what he is expecting to be a busy night.

Officials with Saint John EMO urge residents to check around the neighbourhood and clear catch basis and gutters that may be covered to ensure the best possible drainage during the storm. They also ask residents to be cautious by coastal areas.

Once all the rain stops falling by morning, things are going to get cold quickly. Temperatures are expected to drop from high single digits to the low minuses in just a few hours, leading to very slick and icy roadway.

Officials remind residents to take extra time in there morning travels, and to give crews working on either roadways or power lines plenty of space to ensure everyone’s safety.

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