Maritimes hit with storm surge, wind and rain warnings

Much of the Maritimes can expect a stormy Monday that will linger into Tuesday.

Rainfall amounts of up to 100 millimetres and wind gusts as high as 100 km/h are in the forecast.

Environment Canada has issued rainfall warnings for most of Nova Scotia.

CBC meteorologist Ryan Snoddon says widespread totals of 25 to 50 millimetres are expected across the province. Areas along the Atlantic coast and across Cape Breton have the best chances to see totals exceeding 50 millimetres, with localized amounts up to 100 millimetres or more possible through Tuesday evening. Additional rainfall is expected in eastern areas of the Province through Wednesday and into Thursday. 

Wind warnings are in place for all areas of Nova Scotia, with gusts up to 100 km/h expected.

Snoddon says the strongest winds are expected to arrive this afternoon and continue through the evening and overnight. Residents should prepare for scattered power outages, he said.

Storm surge warnings have been issued for Guysborough, Hants, Lunenburg, Queens and Halifax counties. Environment Canada says huge storm surge levels and waves of up to eight metres are expected to impact the coast.

The greatest risk to vulnerable sections of the coastline will be during high tide and possibly again around midday on Tuesday. 

Rainfall warnings are in place for most of New Brunswick.

Wind warnings are also in effect for southern New Brunswick and the Acadian Peninsula and P.E.I., with gusts of 90 to 100 km/h expected.

Nova Scotia Power activated its emergency operations centre on Monday morning to respond to any outages. N.B. Power and Maritime Electric in P.E.I. have also said on social media they will be ready to respond to outages.

As of 9:19 p.m., there were more than 41,300 Nova Scotia Power customers were without power, with the largest outages in the central part of the province.

Matt Drover, storm lead for Nova Scotia Power, said in an interview that the storm is expected to last until late Tuesday evening. He said crews totalling more than 700 workers from both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are on the ground to respond to outages.

What to expect from December storm blowing through Nova Scotia

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Duration 2:55

Meteorologist Ryan Snoddon says people there will be periods of heavy rain and strong winds Monday night into early Tuesday morning.

Drover said tackling repairs this time around may be a bit easier since there's little to no snow and warmer temperatures, but other weather conditions could cause problems.

"Looks like temperatures will be pretty warm for this one, so access won't be an issue, but we are expecting a lot of rain with this storm as well," he said. "So that may create some flooding and some washout conditions that we'll be navigating around."

Once wind speeds drop below 80 km/h, crews will be able to remove debris and make repairs.

Meanwhile, more than 90,000 customers in New Brunswick are in the dark, largely across the eastern and southern parts of the province.

And on P.E.I., just about 2.300 homes and businesses were without electricity.

Disruptions and cancellations

Marine Atlantic cancelled Monday's ferry crossings between North Sydney, N.S., and Port aux Basques, N.L., and later announced the Tuesday morning sailing was also cancelled.

Bay Ferries cancelled its Monday and Tuesday sailings between Digby, N.S., and Saint John, N.B.

Northumberland Ferries cancelled morning crossings for Tuesday, including the 8:30 a.m. crossing from Wood Islands, P.E.I., and the 10 a.m. crossing from Caribou, N.S.

The operator of the Confederation Bridge announced the bridge was closed to all traffic on Monday night until the weather improves.

Non-profits, government work on assisting homeless population

Volunteer groups in the Halifax area have purchased ice-fishing shelters for encampments in Lower Sackville and in the city's Grand Parade square to help homeless people brave the cold, wet weather that's hit Nova Scotia so far this winter.

Stephen Wilsack, a volunteer assisting residents of a homeless encampment across from Halifax City Hall, said Monday he's hopeful the ice-fishing tents are secure enough to endure the windstorm.

"Obviously, the better situation would be to move people indoors, and we've been pressing for almost three weeks to get the unhoused indoors, right across the province," Wilsack said in an interview.

"Unfortunately there seems to be red tape in providing shelters."

A media relations spokeswoman for the Halifax Regional Municipality sent an email stating, "Ground search and rescue will be checking on encampments and helping to transport people if necessary."

The provincial Department of Community Services said in an email it is working closely with non-profit groups across the province to prepare for the weather.

"Over the next few days, many of our service providers will open additional shelters and increase their capacity," spokesperson Christina Deveau said. "Service providers and outreach workers connect with people in the community to ensure they know what resources are available.

"We will share the list on social media shortly and we encourage anyone experiencing homelessness to call 211 to be connected to services in their area."