P.E.I. couple endures frightening return to the Island amid weekend wind

High winds and low temperatures led to a frightening incident for an Island couple travelling across the Confederation Bridge on Saturday afternoon.

Phil Mercier and Lisa Theriault were coming back to P.E.I. from Moncton, N.B., at around 4 p.m. Saturday after spending a relaxing day at a spa.

The couple were bracing for a stressful trip home, but said they could not have prepared for what they were about to experience.

"We had heard the winds were pretty powerful, but it was only closed for trucks, so we thought, 'Sure we'll come across the bridge,'" said Mercier.

It was all going well enough, they said, until they passed over the highest point of the bridge — it was there that the hood of their car blew open.

"First thing was, 'Oh no, I don't want the windshield to smash open because at the time, it was –20 or –30, plus these winds,'" said Mercier.

"So the biggest concern was, 'I hope the windshield doesn't smash.' The other one was, 'Am I driving in the middle of the road?'"

Intense, powerful winds 

Eventually, the hood came back down and Mercier was able to pull off to the side of the road.

"The winds were very intense at this point — the car was shaking, we didn't feel comfortable driving," he said.

At the time, traffic on the bridge was restricted to high-sided vehicles due to the winds, but the two were in a hatchback.

"I never expected that that could happen, that our hood would just fly open like that," said Theriault. "The winds on the bridge when it's strong like that are just so powerful."

The couple called 911, and were put through to bridge officials, who advised them to stay put until help could arrive.

'Her glasses went flying'

While they waited, another driver passing in the opposite direction also stopped to help. She got out of her car to tell the couple she'd called for assistance, but as she turned to go back to her vehicle, the wind picked up her glasses and carried them off the side of the bridge, into the Northumberland Strait.

"As soon as she turned, it just hit her, and that's when her glasses went flying," said Mercier.

"It looked like she was just walking against a brick wall. She just couldn't get a footing and get by."

"Seeing her just struggle in the wind and have things flying off, and our car is shaking.  And you're looking at that wall on the side of the bridge wondering 'Is that high enough? Is someone going to fly over?" said Theriault. "It was definitely intense."

Mercier and Theriault opened their back door to let the passerby wait in their back seat for help to arrive.

A cautious crossing

A few minutes later, two bridge patrol vehicles arrived. Officers helped the woman return to her car, and followed Theriault and Mercier as they slowly finished the crossing.

Once they arrived on P.E.I., the couple received help from someone in Borden-Carleton to get the hood latched well enough to make the drive back to their home in Brookfield.

"We're so thankful he helped us out.… It was still a nerve wracking drive, always being scared it was gonna pop up again, but we were able to make it back the half an hour to our house," said Mercier.

The bridge shut down entirely about an hour later, when sustained winds started exceeding 105 km/h. Michel LeChasseur, general manager with Strait Crossing Bridge Ltd., said their studies have shown wind speeds lower than that are safe for regular vehicles.

'We're ready to respond'

LeChasseur said the incident is a good reminder not to get out of your car on the bridge.

"I salute the Good Samaritan. But she may have put her own safety at risk by doing that," he said.

"Always keep in mind there's cameras everywhere on the bridge. Patrollers are there. We're ready to respond."

Theriault said they'll keep an eye on wind speeds next time they plan to make the crossing.

"I think it could have been fine if you had no issues with your car but I do wonder if someone's car broke down or anything happened, those would be really bad conditions to get help," said Theriault.

"We'll think twice maybe if we see those wind speeds of 125 kilometres, but yeah, we'll definitely think of this every time we go over the bridge."