More than 20,000 customers without power in the Maritimes due to wet, windy storm

High winds impact N.B., N.S. An overnight wind storm caused widespread outages in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick on Thursday.

Tens of thousands of customers in the Maritimes woke up to no power Thursday morning and several schools are closed as a wet and windy storm makes its way through the region.

Schools

Several schools in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were closed Thursday due to high winds, power outages and debris over roads. A full list can be found here.

There were no school closures on Prince Edward Island.

Weather warnings

Rainfall, wind and special weather statements in New Brunswick Thursday morning have since ended.

Wind warnings across Nova Scotia and parts of Cape Breton have also ended.

Power

In New Brunswick, more than 10,000 NB Power customers were without power as of 8:51 p.m., down from 53,000 Thursday morning.

The utility says its Emergency Operations Centre is open and about 650 people are supporting restoration efforts across the province.

"Estimated times of restoration are being updated as damage assessment progresses," reads a post on the NB Power X account.

About 23 Nova Scotia Power customers were without power at 8:50 p.m., down from more than 10,000 earlier in the day.

At 8:50 p.m., there were just four Maritime Electric customers without power on P.E.I., down from more than 200 earlier.

Warming centre

The New Brunswick government says a warming centre would be open at the Day and Ross Community Centre in Hartland until 8 p.m.

Internet and charging stations are available.

Travel

Marine Atlantic cancelled the 11:45 a.m. crossing from North Sydney, N.S., to Port aux Basques, N.L. The 11:45 a.m. crossing from Port aux Basques to North Sydney was also cancelled.

The Tancook Ferry in Nova Scotia suspended service at 6 a.m. It will be back in service for 1:30 p.m.

Northumberland Ferries cancelled departures from Wood Islands, P.E.I., at 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. The Caribou, N.S., departures at 8:30 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. were also cancelled.

The ferry service will be resuming its regular sailing schedule at 3 p.m. from Wood Islands.

The Confederation Bridge is no longer restricting certain classes of vehicles from crossing.

NBEMO says there are reports of trees and power lines on roads and drivers should be careful.