Emergency Teams Roll Out As Ice Storm Knocks Out Power Across P.E.I.

By THE CANADIAN PRESS

CHARLOTTETOWN – Thousands of residents in western Prince Edward Island were bundled up in their homes late Wednesday, bracing for a long, cold night as utility crews scrambled to mend power lines damaged by a lingering ice storm.

The blackouts started late Monday in western P.E.I. and spread eastward, with Charlottetown losing power for about three hours Wednesday afternoon.

At one point, power outages were being reported across the Island.

By Wednesday night, about one third of Maritime Electric’s 66,000 billed customers were still in the dark – that represents about 40,000 people in a province of about 135,000.

“I had to go out and take some water to a friend of mine last night around 10 o’clock,” said James Baglole, a resident of O’Leary in western P.E.I., who was using a generator to keep his furnace running.

“They ran out of water, and her husband is sick. So you help people out.”

In Tignish, about 30 kilometres to the north, 83-year-old Rose MacKenzie said she had been without power since 11 a.m. Tuesday.

“The trees are all loaded with ice and the branches are all hanging down,” she said, adding that she was using a wood stove to keep warm.

“It doesn’t heat the house as much as when the furnace is (on), but at least we have heat. And we can heat water on it, too.”

Emergency shelters were set up in several communities.

As night fell, Maritime Electric spokeswoman Kim Griffin said service would be restored to most parts of the Island by Friday, but some areas would have to wait longer.

More than 100 utility poles were pulled down by ice-encrusted lines, falling trees and branches, she said.

More damage was expected overnight as the weather forecast included a warning that called for gusts peaking at 90 kilometres per hour and plunging temperatures resulting in a “rapid freeze.”

Earlier, heavy fog reduced visibility to mere metres for crews scouting for problems by snowmobile. As well, a helicopter borrowed from New Brunswick had been grounded for two days because of poor visibility.

“We’ve counted eight, 10, 12 inches of solid ice hanging on power lines on trees, and this is two days after the ice storm,” said Wayne Thibodeau, a reporter with the Charlottetown Guardian.

“We travelled through one section of road where the trees were literally laying down in the middle of the road. But these weren’t trees that were broken. These trees were weighed down with ice – it was quite amazing to see.”

In O’Leary, about 100 kilometres northwest of Charlottetown, officials were preparing for the worst as the wind started to pick up.

“Homes are starting to get very cold and a lot of people are coming into O’Leary from the outlying areas,” said Nancy Wallace, chairwoman of the community council.

The local community centre has been transformed into a emergency shelter.

“People are coming here to get water because their well pumps aren’t working and to cook some food,” she said.

Wallace said the centre has a generator purchased in 2000 to deal with the potential impact of the Y2K computer bug.

“This is the first year we’ve had to use it. We have a television going here for the children and one lady just came in with a coffee pot to make coffee to take back home,” she said.

“We’re picking up some staples for tonight, some bread and milk, and the Red Cross is coming in with blankets and cots we can use.”

Volunteer firefighters in O’Leary – home to about 900 – were planning to go door to door to make sure residents were safe.

In Summerside, the largest community in western P.E.I., the power remained on because the town has its own generators.

Marcia Carroll, a Red Cross regional director, confirmed emergency response teams were dispatched from Saint John, N.B., and Moncton, N.B., to help the Charlottetown squad.

“We’ve … loaded up our truck, van and trailer with cots and blankets and volunteers and water and we’re heading out,” she said.

“We worry about people using candles and not tending them and seniors not being able to feed themselves or people not being able to look after their children and pets in an appropriate manner.”

The province’s fire marshal warned residents to use caution when lighting candles or oil lamps, and to ensure adequate ventilation when using kerosene heaters.

For the third day in a row, schools were closed for students in the western district.

But Islanders weren’t the only Canadians suffering through a bout of nasty weather. Wild winds and dangerously cold temperatures caused power outages, school closures and flight delays in Ontario, the Prairies and British Columbia.

In Yellow Quill, Sask., where the wind chill made the temperature feel like -50 C, members of a First Nation east of Saskatoon grieved the loss of two little girls whose bodies were found frozen in the deep snow near their home.

On Wednesday, searchers found the body of Cadence Pauchay, 3, a short distance from where her one-year-old sister Santana was discovered a day earlier.

The search for the children started after their father, Christopher Pauchay, 25, was picked up early Tuesday suffering from frostbite.

His mother, Pearl Pauchay, said she understood he’d been drinking on the night in question. He had “no clue at all” what happened, she said.

-By Michael MacDonald in Halifax