Environment Canada is warning Atlantic Canadians to brace for a nasty storm Friday and Saturday.

Special weather statements have been issued for all four provinces.

Strong winds, heavy rain, snow and storm surges are in the forecast.

For Pictou County, from Friday near noon into Saturday morning, we could see 25 to 50 mm in total rainfall, and maximum wind gusts of 70 to 90 km/h.

 

 

Nova Scotia Power is opening its Emergency Operations Centre at 10am Friday to support response efforts ahead of the pending storm.

NS Power is preparing for high winds and heavy rain across Nova Scotia, beginning in the western part of the province Friday afternoon and moving into Cape Breton overnight and into Saturday morning.

Nova Scotia Power is working closely with the Nova Scotia Emergency Management Office.

Based on the current forecast, Nova Scotia Power does expect this storm to cause power outages across the province.

 

 

Post tropical storm Fiona was the top weather story in Canada in 2022 according to Environment Canada.

The September 24th storm swept through Atlantic Canada resulting in widespread power outages, damaged buildings and flooded shorelines.

Two people died in the storm, including a woman who was swept into the ocean in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, during a tidal surge.

Environment Canada says warmer coastal waters are affecting the duration and intensity of hurricanes hitting the East Coast.

 

 

Nova Scotia Power’s bonds are once again seeing their rating downgraded.

D-B-R-S Morningstar lowered the ratings to B-B-B high, with stable trends.

The agency says the downgrades are due to what it calls the “deterioration in the regulatory environment for the firm.”

The rating agency says provincial legislation limiting rate increases is considered a problem given the “significant investment” needed in the province for the utility to phase out its coal-fired generation plants by 2030.

 

 

Emergency rooms in Nova Scotia were closed twice as much in 2021-22 as they were the prior fiscal year.

Figures released by the province Wednesday indicate E-Rs were shut down for over 31-thousand hours from April 1st, 2021 to March 31st, 2022, compared to 15-thousand hours in the prior 12 months.

The province is attributing the closures to a shortage of health-care workers.

Between temporary and scheduled closures, Nova Scotia’s emergency departments were closed 11 per cent of the time in 2021-22, up from six per cent of the time the previous year.

 

 

Police are asking for the public’s help as they investigate the theft of a silver communion chalice from a church in Garden of Eden.

The RCMP issued a statement Wednesday saying the chalice and two silver communion pitchers were stolen from the Blair Presbyterian Church in Pictou County some time between November 13th and November 25th.

The RCMP says the church is located on the Garden of Eden Church Loop.

The Mounties say the stolen items are of historical value to the church.