Snow and wind lead to more school closures and power outages in the province

Another blizzard has forced more schools to close Thursday in the province.

All schools in Anglophone East School District are closed today and district operations will be closed until noon.

In the Northern English School District, the Miramichi and Rexton schools are closed. All schools in the Francophone South School District are closed except the Fredericton and Saint John areas.

The Université de Moncton is closed until 1 pm. today and NBCC Moncton is closed for the day.

Environment Canada issued a snow warning for Moncton and the southeastern part of the province, Kent County and the Miramichi area, where 20 to 30 cm of snow is expected.

A special weather report is also in effect for the Acadian Peninsula.

Drive with caution

Isabelle LeBlanc, Director of Communications for the City of Moncton, said the streets are slippery and snow-covered.

LeBlanc said the salt crews were out shortly after midnight and that the snow removal equipment was cleaning the streets of the city.

But she still advises motorists to drive safely on the roads.

"For the moment, everything is going as usual for the city of Moncton," she said.

Codiac Transpo will be on the roads, but buses could be stopped if the winds started to rise and reduce visibility.

"Our main concern at the moment is the wind and the wind is supposed to rise," she said. "So we will keep a close eye on that."

More than 13,000 without electricity

In the meantime, more than 13,000 NB Power customers are without electricity this morning. More than 6,100 of these clients are in Shediac and Cap-Pelé. More than 3,100 customers are in the dark in Kent County and almost 2,000 in Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe.

The meteorological agency said the snow would continue all day, giving additional accumulations of at least 15 cm before gradually fading into snow flurries late this afternoon or early tonight. Strong north winds with gusts of up to 80 km could reduce visibility or cause blowing snow.

"Consider postponing non-essential travel until conditions improve," said Environment Canada. "Bad weather can contribute to shipping delays."