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Canwest News Service
HALIFAX – A severe winter storm that swept through Eastern Canada with heavy snowfall, high winds and freezing rain, leaving thousands without electricity, has claimed the life of a Nova Scotia man.
In Three Fathom Harbour, about 30 kilometres east of Halifax, a 54-year-old man died and a woman was hospitalized Sunday after they succumbed to carbon monoxide fumes from a generator they were using in their home during a power outage.
In a news release, police said the woman was able to call 911 around 5:30 a. m. Sunday. Both were rushed to hospital, where the man died a short time later.
In the wake of the incident, RCMP were reminding the public to only use generators in well-ventilated areas, and to install carbon-monoxide detectors to warn of lethal levels of the colourless and odourless gas.
In New Brunswick, nearly 10,000 customers remained without power Sunday, according to the province’s power utility, NB Power.
Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John, N.B., received between 20 and 40 centimetres of snow, with winds gusting up to 50 kilometres an hour during a storm that began Saturday.
In Port Elgin, N.B., a local state of emergency was temporarily declared. A huge storm surge crashed into the town, flooding homes and cottages, but all the evacuated residents were able to return home by Sunday evening.
“We’re still worried about high tide tonight because it was really quite a thing,” said the town’s mayor, Judy Scott. “The firemen are going to have to keep a close watch just to make sure everybody is safe.”
The town of 500, about 70 kilometres east of Moncton, is located at the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
The heavy winds caused whiteout conditions, and rain and freezing rain made driving conditions treacherous.
Police across the region warned motorists that conditions would worsen as temperatures begin to drop Sunday evening and roads become icy.
Late Sunday afternoon, the state of emergency had been lifted.
A low-pressure system south of Halifax caused most of the nasty weather. In southwestern Nova Scotia, some regions were pelted with freezing rain and ice pellets. The province was expected to see as much as 30 millimetres of rain, Environment Canada predicted.
Winds were also expected to whip the province, including gusts reaching 60 kilometres an hour in the Cape Breton highlands. The area could also receive up to another 25 centimetres of snow on Sunday, forecasters said.
The Confederation Bridge linking New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island was closed to high-sided vehicles Saturday night due to high winds, but was reopened Sunday morning.
Although Environment Canada said the worst high water conditions had passed, storm surges were still predicted in Cape Breton, in southwestern Nova Scotia as well as in Prince Edward Island, where forecasters were warning of pounding waves and possible coastal flooding.
