Buses cancelled, schools closed as HRM hit by winter storm

Busses are cancelled, schools are closed and stores are shuttered as Halifax deals with another winter storm on Friday.

In a news release on Thursday, Halifax Regional Municipality said the city is facing a “complex weather system” of freezing rain and ice pellets. 

“This system may cause power outages, downed trees and hazardous road conditions,” the release said. 

The city applied salt and brine to sidewalks throughout the day.

All Halifax Transit services, including Access-A-Bus and ferries, were halted at 11 a.m. Municipal garbage collection was also suspended for the day.

As a temporary emergency shelter, the George Dixon Centre on Brunswick Street will open at 9 p.m. on Friday, and will stay open until 9 a.m. on Saturday. The St. Matthew’s Warming Centre is also open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. both Friday and Saturday.  

Multiple municipal recreational facilities are closed, the city said. There is no active list of closures but residents should call their local recreational centre to find out more. Halifax Public Gardens will be closed until at least Saturday. All municipal offices are closed. 

Dalhousie University, the University of King’s College, Saint Mary’s University, Mount Saint Vincent University and Nova Scotia Community College campuses were closed today, as well as all Halifax Regional Centre for Education schools. 

Halifax Public Libraries and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic were not open and Mic Mac Mall in Dartmouth and the Halifax Shopping Centre also closed. 

Some Nova Scotia Health Authority COVID-19 testing centres and outreach vaccine clinics closed. The outreach vaccine clinic at the North Woodside Community Centre has been cancelled. The list of cancellations and temporary closures may be updated throughout the day.

Nova Scotia Power activated its emergency operations centre for the day. According to their website, there was one significant outage in the HRM Friday morning: 1,069 customers without power in an area stretching from Boulderwood to Ferguson’s Cove. The outage has since been resolved, according to the live outage map. 

In its release, the city said residents should have emergency food and water on hand in case of a power outage. The city suggests having battery chargers on hand for cellphones and said people who rely on wells should fill a bathtub or jugs with water.

The city is also asking residents to bring inside all items that could be thrown around by high winds.