The city telling us the following roads are closed due to flooding….Fairville Boulevard, McAllister Drive at Majors Brook Drive, New North Road, Polaris Court, Simpson Drive, Glen Road and Westmorland Road at the McAllister Place mall entrance. Manawagonish Road between Purdy’s Corner and Catherwood is closed because of falling trees. The power lines came down at the intersection of First Street and Manawagonish Road with a blown transformer. There’s also a tree limb across the wires on First Avenue. Part of Red Head Road has been closed because of downed power lines.
University Avenue has been reopened to traffic. Signage was blown over on the Harbour Bridge at Market Place.
The city also warning drivers and pedestrians to be careful of trees and branches falling. High winds are causing some of them to fall across sidewalks and streets. City crews are out cleaning them up as quickly as possible. To report any fallen trees on streets or sidewalks, residents are asked to contact the City’s Municipal Operations Department at 658-4455.
Power lines were reported down along Route 790 at Musquash earlier this afternoon. A tree came down in Victoria Square. Falling tree branches also taking down power lines on Gorman Avenue, a tree came to rest on a power line along Elliot Row and tree branches are littering Manawagonish Road. Traffic had to be rerouted at Dufferin Row and City Line because of a tree coming down. A transformer blew at Colpitts Avenue. A power line came down on George Street and trees toppled over on Lingley Lane and Fifth Street. A tree was also blocking traffic on Wellesley Avenue. Another large tree was uprooted along Churchill Boulevard but doesn’t pose any danger.
In St. Stephen, water from Billy Weston Brook is over King Street with traffic being detoured. The Irving Station and Sobeys are closed. Cove Street is blocked by trees that have fallen. The water is rising at Queensway and Milltown Blvd. The provincial Emergency Measures Organisation is warning of wind gusts as high as 120 km/h over Grand Manan later this afternoon. Over 13 thousand homes and businesses are without power in the St. Stephen area. The Emergency Measures Organisation in St. Stephen expects the storm to start easing off around 7 tonight. St. Stephen could wind up with 170 millimeters of rain according to the Canadian Hurricane Centre.
The Town of St. Stephen has activated the EMO Center. Anyone with storm related issues are asked to call the EMO Center at 466-7779. All residents are asked to use extreme caution and to stay home for safety reasons as there are many downed trees, power lines and flooded streets.
