Maritime travel options dwindling due to poor weather
Deteriorating weather conditions across the Maritimes have led to road and bridge closures. As a result, police and government officials are urging people to stay off the roads.
Snowfall warnings are in effect for parts of eastern New Brunswick, northern Nova Scotia and western Prince Edward Island, where between 15 and 25 centimetres of snow could fall by Sunday evening.
The Confederation Bridge which links New Brunswick and P.E.I. is closed to all traffic. The closure came into effect at 1:45 p.m.
In P.E.I., RCMP are advising people to stay off the roads unless they need to be.
RCMP say whiteout driving conditions have caused multiple accidents on P.E.I. roads and forced the province's Transportation Department to pull plows off of roads as a safety precaution.
The P.E.I. transportation department has taken its plows off the secondary roads in Prince and Queen counties. In Kings County plows have been taken off the road until further notice.
Route 1 from Stratford east is closed because of multiple accidents. Route 1A from Blue Shank Road to Ross' Corner is also closed until further notice due to multi-car accidents and whiteouts
In Nova Scotia, there were two multiple-vehicle crashes on Highway 102.
Police and fire officials responded to a seven-vehicle collision in Milford near exit 9.
Cpl. Andrew Joyce says injuries are minor in nature, but some vehicles have been extensively damaged.
RCMP are also responding to a 10-vehicle collision in Upper Onslow at exit 15. Police say several vehicles are off the road there.
Both southbound lanes at the exit are closed, while the northbound lanes are moving very slowly.
Provincial transportation department officials are also urging people to be cautious.
In New Brunswick, Highway 2 westbound near Memramcook is closed at Exit 488 because of a crash. Traffic is being diverted.
Several other roads were shut down in New Brunswick, including the causeway between Moncton and Riverview.
NB Power says about 156 customers are without power.
Flight and ferry problems
The poor weather conditions are impacting flight plans across the Maritimes.
At the Halifax Stanfield International Airport and the Charlottetown Airport, many flights in and out of the airport are delayed or cancelled.
In New Brunswick, there are some delayed flights at the airports in Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John, but nowhere near to the extent of what is happening in Nova Scotia and P.E.I.
Marine Atlantic's ferry runs across the Cabot Strait remain cancelled because of severe ice conditions.
All vessels are safe in port in Cape Breton and Newfoundland.
Spokesman Darrell Mercer says they're at the mercy of Mother Nature.
"Not only have we had unfavourable wind conditions which have packed in that pressure on the ice on the Cape Breton side but we've also got wind warnings and sea surge warnings in effect on the Newfoundland side so it's a nasty day all around," he said.
Mercer says they're hoping for improved wind conditions by Monday morning, when captains of the ferries will make a decision about resuming service.
