Winter storm hits Cape Breton, causing outages and cancellations

Cape Bretoners woke up to a wintry mix of weather on Tuesday.

The morning commute was messy, with several minor accidents, and for some, the snow was not a welcomed sight.

“I'm never ready for this weather, never prepared. Especially back in November when we were hitting days that went up to 20 [degrees], I was just hoping it would hold off a little longer,” said Matthew Boyd, a Glace Bay, N.S., resident.

The Cape Breton-Victoria Regional Centre for Education and the Strait Regional Centre for Education cancelled classed for the day, with many businesses also remained closed. 

Many raced to get the snow cleaned up before it changed to rain.

“You have to get rid of this now because if it rains or freezes, we're in trouble,” said Jack Murphy, a Glace Bay resident.

And the rain did come. By Tuesday afternoon, some streets looked like rivers, with roads left looking more like lakes.

“With the wet snow and the rain on top of it, we could run into some issues. Hopefully we won't,” said the executive director of United Way Cape Breton, Lynne McCarron.

McCarron says temporary repairs from Fiona might not hold up to Tuesday’s weather.

“We really need to be making long-term plans for these folks because it's not ending. We're just going to one thing after another, and in terms of folks' mental health, I can't imagine the stress this puts them under,” said McCarron.

Some students who recently arrived from India say the storm was much more of a rude awakening for them.

"It's terrible. I don't like it," said Mrulalini Gonsai, a new Canadian resident. "I can't work and I can't commute. It's a pain."

Wally Doue is a teacher on the island who used to live in Texas. He says the wintry weather is still a new experience for him.

"I got spoiled, I guess, because I didn't have to shovel for 25 years," he said.

The wind was also an issue, whipping up surf from the Atlantic and wreaking havoc for people living along the coast.

“This weather system has impacted about 30,000 customers, mostly in Cape Breton,” said Nova Scotia Power Storm Lead Sean Borden.

Nova Scotia Power says Tuesday’s wet weather and already fragile infrastructure was a perfect storm for power outages.

“Since Fiona, we've had over 100 people in the field everyday dealing with trees weakened or damaged from Fiona, but there's still lots more to do and lots more to deal with," said Borden.

"So, Fiona has definitely impacted the vegetation in the province and that's causing power outages on the power system."

Borden says some customers may not see power restored until Wednesday.