'It is slow going:' Power still out for thousands on P.E.I.

Maritime Electric continues to struggleto restore power to thousands of customers on P.E.I. as the province deals with its first serious snow storm of the season.

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Dozens of communities remainwithout power, with about 4400customers affected as of Monday at 8 p.m. AT, as high winds have taken down power lines.

"We won't have everyone on tonight and it could be late Tuesday or Wednesday but we are still accessing some areas for restoration," said the utility'sspokesperson Kim Griffin. "It is slow going."

The utility has to replace 100 polesdue to thestorm 90 per cent of thoseineastern P.E.I., Griffin said.

It's alsocalled for assistance from New Brunswick. Griffin said sevencrews arrived Monday night and will be ready to help Maritime Electriccrews Tuesday morning. The next update on the power situation will be Tuesday at 6 a.m., she added.

Warming shelters have openedat the Murray HarbourCommunity Centre, at the fire hall in Cardigan, P.E.I., and at the Old School in Lower Montague, P.E.I.

A warming centre at the food bank in Montague, P.E.I., will open Tuesday at 8 a.m.

Multiple cancellations

Weather conditionscaused Northumberland Ferries to cancel all sailingsMonday.

Schools in the Morell, Souris and Montague families closed for the day, as didDonaghRegional school and the French language school in Souris. Other public schoolsopened with a one-hour delay.

All provincial civil service offices in the Montague areaclosed for the day.

Wind, ice and heavy snow

The trouble started Sunday. The storm had knocked out power to thousands by the end of the day.

"It's been the worst kind of storm because it's not only been wind but it's been ice and heavy wet snow, so we are certainly getting reports of lines down and broken poles," said Maritime Electric spokeswoman Kim Griffin.

Visibility was a problem for crews overnight, said Griffin.

The situation is worst in eastern P.E.I., particularly from Morell to Souris. One report from Iona had the power out there since 4 p.m. Sunday.

• Thousands without power on P.E.I. as high winds fell trees

The amount of snowfall varied "from just a few centimetresin Prince County to as much as 18 centimetresjust west of Charlottetown," said CBC meteorologist Jim Abraham. Road conditions continue to vary across the province.

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