Cape Breton digs out after winter storm

Cape Breton — one of the places hardest hit by Friday night's nor'easter — is digging out after after Mother Nature dumped  and drifted knee-deep amounts of snow.

Environment Canada reported 32 centimetres of snow fell in Ingonish Beach, 26 in Eskasoni and  22 at North Mountain.

Caitlyn Poirier, who lives in Sydney, is still waiting for her power to come back on.

She played cards by oil lamp last night.

High winds also played a role in the nasty weather overnight Friday. Winds of 96 kilometres per hour were recorded at JA Douglas McCurdy Airport in Sydney, with 108 km/h on St. Paul Island off the northeast coast of Cape Breton. 

Poirier says her family was prepared with emergency supplies to deal with the storm.

"We're on a well so we try to have drinking water prepared in case a situation like this does arise. Even last night we had candles and flashlights, made sure our phones were charged and mom has a windup radio," said Poirier, who told CBC News that she isn't expecting to have electricity back until Sunday.

"If we get chilly later, I think my grandparents will still have power and we'll head down there and it's a good chance for everyone to get together too," she said.

The fire hall in Reserve Mines has set up warming centre for people looking to get out of the cold while waiting for electricity to be restored.

Ben Young says he lost power at his home in Sydney at around 9:30 p.m. Friday night. 

"We woke up and it was freezing cold," said Young, "We had no power and I think it might have been 13 degrees in the house so we bundled up in hats and bathrobes and made the best of it," he said.

"The worst part of the morning was no coffee. I can deal with no power and all that jazz, but no coffee? That's a must," said Young.

That's when a seldom-used fondue set came in handy.

"It was an old fondue that we had talked about getting rid of," said Young, adding it was his first time using the set to make coffee.

Levi Smith, a snowmobiler from Moncton, decided to drive to Baddeck when he learned how much snow was in the forecast.

Smith says the driving hasn't been too bad, although he did capture video of a plow struggling to to make it up a ramp.

"We were coming off the exit in Antigonish to get something to eat and the snow plow couldn't quite make it up the ramp. It took him 10 tries or so," said Smith.

Snow business

Bean There Cafe in Baddeck delayed opening by three hours on Saturday.

"We're a small coffee shop but certainly we provide the service to the community. Lots of local help from the area so it was an easy decision once we got plowed out to open," said Susan Matheson, owner. 

When CBC News called, Matheson was in the process of preparing boxed lunches for a Nova Scotia Power crew. She says the cafe usually does this during storms, an added bonus on what can be slower days for business.

"I love snow so I'm certainly happy to see it but I do understand that it provides quite a headache for those that are travelling and working in it," said Matheson.

"I'm very thankful to the great crew we have around for snow removal."

Chase the Ace postponed

Chase the Ace in Sydney postponed tonight's festivities for safety reasons because of the weather.

"A lot went into this decision yesterday so we didn't really know for certain how much [snow] we would get but just judging by what it looks like outside, we made the right decision," said Stephen Tobin, business development manager with the Horizon Achievement Centre.

The jackpot is an estimated $325,000. Tobin says signs were placed at the six Chase the Ace locations. He says crowd sizes have doubled over the last three to four weeks.

"At this point we have people travelling from all over the island to attend the event and so safety is obviously our number one concern so we wanted to make sure that patrons were safe and so it was in our best decision to postpone it until next Saturday (Feb. 6)," he said.