Power restored to most of P.E.I. following heavy windstorm

Power has been restored to nearly every customeron P.E.I., Maritime Electric says.

The latest update came at 7:53p.m.Friday when the utility company indicated there were 15 customers left without power. The company has hadan up and down daydealing with the aftermath of a heavy wind storm.

Outages peaked at 5,700 customers Friday morning, mostly from Charlottetown to Summerside, after falling to fewer than 100 overnight. By noon, the utility had restored electricity to all but about 250 customers.

By Friday evening, most remaining outages were inEast Prince.

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The outages were largely the result of punishing winds racing across the province.

CBC meteorologist Jay Scotland saidgusts were between 80-100 km/h Friday morning, slowly easing through the afternoon. Environment Canada's wind warning for the Island ended at 3:44 p.m.

"Winds will continue to gradually ease but still remain quite gusty tonight," Scotland said, "Gusts this evening could still be topping 60 km/h."

"For folks without power, the big concern will be a major drop in temperatures as Arctic air roars into the region for the next few days."

RCMPurged drivers to remain safe on the roads and to stayalert for flying debris.

Possible storm surge

Environment Canada said Friday afternoon's high tidecould elevatewater levels and cause minor flooding.

In addition, ice rafting may occur near high tide along coastlines exposed to the south on Saturday as winds shift from east to southwest.

Traffic restrictions for high-sided vehicles were still in place on the Confederation Bridge Friday morning, but traffic is now running smoothly.

Temperatures rose overnight and heavy rain and winds melted the snow that fell Thursday. It was 4 C at Charlottetown Airport early Friday morning and raining, with winds still gusting up to 76 km/h. The temperature is expected to fall to3 C in the afternoon.

Charlottetown Airport received 10 cm of snow Thursday and 0.4 mm of rain. The highest recorded precipitation on the Island was in St. Peters Bay, which got 17.9 mm, while West Prince saw just 4.3 mm.

Colder temperatures will return on the weekend. Both days will see temperatures around14 C, with higher windsmaking it feel like27 on Saturday.

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