Earl causes N.B. travel disruptions

Tropical storm Earldid not hitNew Brunswick as directly as had been feared, and there wereno reports of significant flooding or major damage by Saturday afternoon.

It was lowtide when the storm was at its most dangerous, and because Earl veeredto the east overnight, the highest gusts recorded in New Brunswick were only about 65 km/h.

The storm, downgraded from a hurricane,still brought heavy rainand caused plane and ferry cancellations.

The tropical storm warning and wind warningwere lifted forSaint John, Grand Manan and coastal Charlotte County early Saturday. Those warningswerealso lifted inMoncton and southeast New Brunswick on Saturday afternoon.

However, heavy rain hit several areas in the province. Environment Canada said that Earl combined with a cold front that moved in later in the day to bring 40 to 75 millimetres of rain to some parts of western New Brunswick.

About 4,000 peoplelost power in the Moncton andSackville areas. NB Power blamed the outages on broken trees falling on power lines.

Morningflights had beencancelled atthe Moncton andSaint John airports, but both airportsreturned tonormal by late afternoon. Flights in Fredericton were on schedule.

The ferry between Digby, N.S., and Saint John, N.B.,was cancelled, while ferriesbetweenGrand Manan and the mainland were running again afterbeing cancelled during the morning.

People in Saint Johnawoke to find the3,700-passenger cruise ship Carnival Gloryin port. Ithadn't been due until 9 a.m. butarrived at about midnight to beat the storm.

The captain ordered two tug boats to sit alongsideSaturday morning.

Thetugs'engines were running astheycontinuously pushed the ship tight against the wharfa precaution becausethe ship is so tallthat there was concern the wind might pushit around.

Thecity's emergencyoperations centre ordered the closure of Saints Rest Beach in west Saint John,where a largenumber of peoplehad arrived to watch the waves. Emergency officials were concerned that some people were getting too close to the surf.

They also made people walking innearbyIrving Nature Park leave the park in case theroad was washed out.

The citykept a close eye on flood-prone sections of east Saint John, such as theGlen Falls neighbourhoodand McAllister Drive.

Monctonhad two crews on flood patrol.