Islanders urged to prepare for frigid weather

Islanders are being urged to take their cues from recent power outages that swept across southern New Brunswick and make sure they are prepared for the frigid weather hitting the Maritimes.

There were some power outages on Prince Edward Island on Monday following the winter storm. By 9 p.m. there were roughly 40 Maritime Electric customers still without electricity, and crews worked on repairs until midnight.

This comes as P.E.I.’s Office of Public Safety says people should have an emergency kit on hand with enough bottled water and non-perishable food to last 72 hours.

"You should certainly want to have some bottled water, some food that you can prepare, potentially without any source of heat," said Tanya Mullally, the province's emergency management co-ordinator.

"You want to have some non-perishables, crackers, those types of things. You also want to make sure you have batteries, flashlights and preferably a crank radio."

It’s also important to clear away snow from the doorways of homes and to make sure civic address numbers are visible.

“Certainly at your entrances or exits to your home you want to make sure that if you did need to get out of your home quickly that you could do that," Mullally said.

"But also if you needed assistance, perhaps if you needed police, emergency or fire, you want to make sure your entrances are clear.”