How Nova Scotians can prepare for wild weather this Christmas eve
Storm will hit Nova Scotia starting Friday afternoon
Officials are urging Nova Scotians to plan ahead for the holiday weekend, as a Christmas Eve storm barrels toward the region.
A "very large" weather system is set to hit western Nova Scotia starting Friday afternoon, moving through to Cape Breton by Saturday morning, with high winds, heavy rain and storm surge expected. The same system is also affecting parts of the northeastern U.S., as well as Quebec and Ontario.
With wind gusts of up to 100 km/h predicted for some parts of Nova Scotia, residents are being warned to expect power outages as well as travel disruptions. People in the region are also being advised to secure loose objects around their homes, including Christmas decorations.
Nova Scotia Power opened its emergency operations centre at 10 a.m. on Friday.
Matt Drover, the storm lead with Nova Scotia Power this weekend, said the utility is positioning crews around the province in advance of the storm in order to be able to restore power as quickly as possible.
"We definitely have many field workers through the province who have postponed their holiday plans," Drover said.
EMO says to prepare emergency kit
To prepare for outages, Nova Scotia's Emergency Management Office is advising Nova Scotians to assemble an emergency kit with non-perishable food, water, medications and a flashlight. They should also make sure their gas tanks are full and their devices are charged.
Jason Mew, director of incident management at Nova Scotia EMO, said if people wake up without power on Saturday, they can call 211 to find a comfort centre in their area. But if people don't need to go out in the aftermath of the storm, they may be best off sticking close to home.
"We advise people to really stay off the roads if at all possible. You know, you don't want to risk your life going outdoors if you can prevent it. For the power restoration crews from Nova Scotia Power, it's also a lot easier when there's not a lot of traffic on the road."
Air travel passengers advised to check flights
Halifax Stanfield International Airport was calm when CBC News visited on Friday afternoon.
Despite a few flight cancellations, most people said they were confident they would eventually get to their destination.
"Throughout the week there have been some impacts here in relation to the weather that's been moving across the country," said Leah Batstone, communications and marketing adviser with Halifax Stanfield.
As bad weather makes its way to Nova Scotia, Batstone said it's important for people to check with their airline to see if their travel will be affected.
"Anyone travelling today and tomorrow and maybe over the holidays, it's just really important to make sure that they are in communication with their airline. If there's changes that happen with their flight, if they are looking to rebook, reschedule, find information about delays and cancellations, it's the airline they can reach out to."
Information about schedules can also be found on the airport's website.
Batstone said travellers should check the status of their flight before heading to the airport to make sure they're not waiting unnecessarily, and should plan for lineups.
NORAD keeping watch
Even with bad weather across the country, there's at least one traveller whose trip isn't expected to be affected.
The North American Aerospace Defence Command, or NORAD, began tracking Santa in 1955, after a misprinted number in an advertisement prompted a child to call the Continental Air Defence Command looking for information on Santa. NORAD now offers updates on Santa's progression across North America through its social media channels and website, as well as an operations centre that callers can contact on Christmas Eve.
Capt. Maxime Cliche, public affairs officer with 1 Canadian Air Division, said as Santa enters Canadian airspace around 9 p.m. ET on Dec. 24, NORAD personnel will be keeping watch.
"They'll be able to tell Santa in real time, 'OK, this is where you need to go, and so then he will be able to fly safely across Canada and maybe try to modify his track so he doesn't get into any bad weather."
Given that Santa's faced bad conditions before, Cliche said it'll take more than some winter weather to stop him.
"I would like to reassure all the kids that Santa will be doing his run across Canada for sure, because our previous data shows that it isn't the first time during the holidays there's bad weather, and Santa's always been able to deliver his gifts,"