Wind storm knocks out power to thousands across Nova Scotia

Tens of thousands of Nova Scotia Power customers were without power Tuesday morning and an apartment buildingin Cape Breton was evacuated due to flooding and structural damage afterhigh winds and heavyrain sweptacross the region.

As of 7:30p.m. ATTuesday, there were541customers without power. At its peak, the storm knocked out power to more than 50,000 homes and businesses.

According to the utility, some areas may be without power until 11 p.m.

The storm prompted the Cape Breton Regional Fire Serviceto issue an evacuation order for the apartment at 297 Rotary Dr. in Sydney, which has about 60 tenants.

Jillian Moore, a spokesperson for the municipality, said a significant portion of the roof blew off. She said the evacuation order was needed to ensure the safety and well-being of the tenants.

"There is water coming through the roof causing significant water damage throughout the building," she said. "This has compromised the electrical system, which also means the notifications like fire alarms would be affected."

There was a bus transporting evacuated residentsto Centre 200, where an emergency shelter was opened.

At 4:50 p.m., some residents were allowed back into their units. But 21 units are still under an evacuation directive with 51 people affected, according toCBRM.

Moore said it's not yet known how long people will be out of their homes. She said electrical and structural assessments need to be conducted.

The worst of the winds along the Atlantic coast had subsided by late Tuesday morning.

John Rideout, who lives on Leppert Street in central Halifax, had a massive limb come down on his property.

Shortly before 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Rideout was preparing to take his wife to an appointment. Luckily he had just moved his car to the street as they preparedto leave.

"At first I couldn't identify what had happened. Something shook the house and clearly it was something sizeable and I thought the wind had maybe blown the deck off but clearly I was wrong," he said.

The massive tree fell across his driveway where his car would have been.

"It would have demolished the car and anybody in it," he said.

The high winds alsoknocked down a new three-storey home in the early stages of construction being built on Marvin Street in Dartmouth.

Power outages also forced the closure of a number of schools across the province. A full list of closures is availablehere.

• Check out Storm Centre forthe latest cancellations and closures

On Tuesday morning, Environment Canada hadNova Scotia's Atlantic coast and all of Cape Breton under a wind warning with winds of 90 km/h gusting to 110 km/h.

According to the national weather service, temperatures will drop Tuesday night and rain will change over to snow possibly mixed with ice pellets on Wednesday morning. Total snowfall amounts of five to 10 centimetresare expected. That could make for some slippery driving conditions.