Cancellations, closures accompany Maritime storm

A plow operates during a snowstorm in Halifax on Dec. 12, 2016.

Many parts of the Maritimes remain under weather warnings Saturday following heavy snowfall in the region overnight. A number of cancellations and closures have been announced.

Travel

The arrivals and departures board at Stanfield International Airports was flooded with notices as the snowstorm caused chaos at one of the busiest travel times of the year. Airports in the region are advising passengers to stay up to date on their flight status as there are many cancellations and delays.

"We've seen about 20 per cent of all flights that were scheduled for today have been cancelled," said Tiffany Chase, a spokesperson for the Stanfield International Airport. She said most delays are only for a few hours and airline partners are adding additional aircraft.

Many travelers were left stranded as airlines announced cancellations," said Kayle Dinnell. "I was planning to fly to Toronto, but the snow had other plans in Halifax. I'm kind of just waiting. It was delayed from 11:15 this morning to quarter to midnight."

Marine Atlantic cancelled Saturday crossings between North Sydney, N.S., and Port aux Basques, N.L.

Northumberland Ferries has cancelled all departures for Saturday. They said they will monitor conditions Sunday before providing updates.

Tancook Island ferry in Nova Scotia is back in service after being closed early on Saturday. Englishtown ferry service was cancelled.

In New Brunswick, Gondola Point ferry service was reduced to one ferry on Friday.

The Confederation Bridge is restricting some classes of vehicle from crossing due to high wind. Restricted vehicles include motorcycles, vehicles towing trailers, high-sided vehicles including trucks, tractor trailers, recreational, vehicles and buses.

Power

Nova Scotia Power reported four outages affecting approximately 200 people just after 1 p.m. Saturday. An outage caused by a motor vehicle accident in Halifax affected more than 2,000 customers and the Halifax Shopping Centre early Saturday morning. Approximately 186 customers are still affected.

New Brunswick power reported five outages affecting almost 900 people just after 1 p.m. Saturday. More than 830 of those customers are in southwest New Brunswick.

In Prince Edward Island three outages were reported, affecting three customers.

Events and Venues

In Charlottetown, Simmons Sports Centre and Cody Banks Arena are closed Saturday due to weather.

The Longest Night concert at the St. James Anglican Church in Kentville, N.S., scheduled for Saturday will now take place Sunday, Dec. 22 at 7 p.m.

Halifax

Halifax Regional Municipality will continue to enforce a parking ban from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday. An overnight parking ban was announced previously for Friday night into Saturday morning.

Alderney Ferry service was cancelled early Saturday due to staffing shortages. Regular service has resumed.

Halifax Transit said all bus routes are operational Saturday but routes 1, 2, 3, 4, 7A/B, 9A, 10A/B/C, 22, 24, 25, 28, 29, 58, 61, 62, 65, 67, 83, 85, 90, 91, 320 and 401 are currently on Snow Plans. Halifax Transit advises that all passengers should expect delays.

The Halifax Public Gardens posted an announcement on its X account Friday to say the gardens would be closed Saturday for cleanup after the storm. Many recreation facilities in the municipality will delay opening until 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Halifax emergency shelters are open at:

Saint John, N.B.

Route 24 is not operating until further notice because of road conditions. Route 31 is not serving Mystery Lake due to road conditions.

More to come...