ANOTHER SNOWSTORM HITS CANADIAN MARITIMES

[tropicana]

More shovelling for Atlantic Canada as storm roars through
Last Updated Tue, 16 Dec 2003 20:27:25
MONCTON - Newfoundland is next in line to get hit by the storm that blasted the other Atlantic provinces on Monday.

The second severe storm in a week left thousands of New Brunswickers without power. The storm system is now passing to the south of Newfoundland, although it is not expected to have the same impact as it did in New Brunswick, where many schools and businesses were closed for two days.

Once again, people in the Moncton area were particularly hard hit.


Moncton has 110 cm on the ground.

Homeowner Wayne Burnham summed up how he's spent the past week. "Well, mostly shovelling out the walkway."

Officially, winter is still a few days away. But already, people in the area around Moncton have already seen 110 centimetres of snow in the last eight days. Drifts have buried cars and are piled up high against buildings.

On Monday night all that snow was followed by freezing rain that downed power lines, leaving more than 12,000 customers in cold, dark houses.

New Brunswick Power expects to have everybody reconnected soon, but people are wondering what's next.

Environment Canada weather watcher David Phillips says so much rotten weather at this time of year is unusual. "It's been early, it's been intense, and these nor'easters seem to have a bull's-eye on Moncton."

Although the main part of the weather system is passing south of Newfoundland, it is still causing some problems. High winds disrupted ferry service between Port aux Basques and North Sydney, and snow and blowing snow forced the closure of all schools in Corner Brook.

The Avalon Peninsula was hit by snow and high winds, forcing many schools to close for the day.



Written by CBC News Online staff

-justin-