Wednesday's wild weather leaves thousands without power, results in flooding across parts of Atlantic Canada

Friday, November 29, 2013, 9:01 AM -

A low pressure system that originally formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday moved along the U.S. Eastern seaboard and continued to push into Atlantic Canada Wednesday. 

"The storm then began to rapidly intensify Wednesday evening as it tracked west of New Brunswick," Environment Canada says. 

Snow began over New Brunswick ahead of the storm Tuesday, changing to freezing rain and then rain by Wednesday morning. 

Between 30-90 mm of rain had fallen across the Maritime provinces by the early morning hours on Thursday. 

"Along with the heavy precipitation, strong southerly winds were observed Wednesday night," EC adds. 

Wind gusts near 100 km/h were reported in Halifax and New Brunswick, while the Wreckhouse area of Newfoundland saw gusts over 150 km/h. 

The combination of pelting rain and fierce winds knocked out power to thousands of customers across the region. 

Crews were working to restore power in Nova Scotia early Thursday, where an estimated 37,000 customers were coping with blackouts. 

Fewer than 5,000 customers were still without power in New Brunswick on Thursday, while most of the electricity had already been restored in Prince Edward Island.

The storm also resulted in major flooding across parts of Newfoundland.

"Access to the Sunset Trailer Court in Georgetown, Corner Brook, is cut off due to flooding," says one resident who sent flooding video to The Weather Network.

A portion of the Trans-Canada Highway in the area of South Branch was impassable, RCMP said, because of water buildup and washouts.

An additional 30-50 mm of rain is possible across parts of the province through Thursday and wind and storm surge warnings also remain in place.

"Rain should clear for all of Newfoundland by Thursday night, but we'll still see sustained winds at 60 km/h gusting to 100 km/h through the overnight hours," says Weather Network meteorologist Matt Grinter.

Newfoundland and Labrador's Fire and Emergency Services issued a statement Wednesday urging residents to be cautious around coastlines, particularly in the southwestern corner of the province.

The storm is part of the same system that walloped eastern Ontario and Quebec with heavy snow.

With files from The Canadian Press