(NL-Labrador-Fires)
Hundreds of people had a white-knuckle drive through a sky-splitting lightning storm last night after a wildfire forced them to leave their homes behind in central Labrador.
Robert Dawe says cars and trucks were “bumper to bumper” along the remote, two-lane Trans-Labrador Highway as people made the three-hour drive to safety in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
The Churchill Falls resident says lightning cracked the sky as he drove east from billowing forest fire smoke into torrential rains falling in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
He says the emergency order to evacuate landed in residents’ text messages and emails at 7:30 p-m local time, giving them 45 minutes to pack everything up and leave. (The Canadian Press)
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(WEA-Atlantic-Heat-Wave)
Heat warnings are in effect for large swaths of the Atlantic provinces for a third day in a row.
Environment Canada says parts of New Brunswick could reach 35 degrees Celsius today although it may feel like 45, and hot and humid conditions could continue tomorrow over southern areas of the province.
Central and northeastern Newfoundland and parts of Prince Edward Island could see temperatures of 33 or 32 degrees with nighttime lows forecast to remain fairly warm, limiting overnight cooling.
Western Nova Scotia could see temperatures in the mid to upper 30s through Friday, although humidity could make it feel closer to 40.
(The Canadian Press)
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(NS-Trudeau-Visit)
Justin Trudeau is expected to visit central Nova Scotia today.
The prime minster is scheduled to meet with students and teachers, and he will to make an announcement about the National School Food Program.
Trudeau is also expected to visit a local farm, where he will discuss female entrepreneurship. (The Canadian Press)
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(NS-Hot-Seniors)
Nova Scotia’s opposition New Democrats are calling on the provincial government to provide air conditioning in all government-owned housing for seniors.
N-D-P Leader Claudia Chender says its unacceptable for seniors to live in hot buildings without relief during extreme heat events.
She says older Nova Scotians are at a high risk of illness and death during hot weather.
Maximum temperatures between 29 and 34 degrees are expected today across the province, with humidex values up to 43. (The Canadian Press)
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(NB-Travel-Nurses)
New Brunswick’s Vitalité Health Network is before a standing committee today to answer questions about its spending on travel nurses.
The francophone health authority paid more than 123-million dollars for travel nurses, including 98-million dollars to Ontario-based agency Canadian Health Labs between Jan. 1st, 2022, and Feb. 29th, 2024.
Auditor general Paul Martin said Vitalité conducted three internal audits on its contracts with the Ontario agency, but refused to give his office access to them.
In a statement on its website Vitalité said it submitted all but three documents, which were shielded by a non-disclosure agreement. (The Canadian Press)
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(NS-Wanted-Armed-Man)
Police in Nova Scotia have issued a provincewide arrest warrant for a man who may be armed and was last seen in a wooded area near West Petpeswick, about 50 kilometres east of Halifax.
R-C-M-P issued an alert about 26-year-old Brandon Crawford Grant — a local resident — after officers responded last night to a report of a man in distress who damaged a home with an axe and ran into the woods.
Grant is described as 6-foot-4, 300 pounds — and he has brown hair and brown eyes.
An R-C-M-P emergency response team is in the area, and the local high school, hospital and nursing home have been locked down. (The Canadian Press)
(NB-Message-In-A-Bottle)
Fisheries and Oceans Canada says a drift bottle released in 1961 off the western side of Machias Seal Island, near the Bay of Fundy, was recently found at the northern tip of Cape Cod in Boston.
A social media post by Fisheries and Oceans Canada says researchers once tracked surface currents by releasing bottles into the ocean — a practice that begin in 1922.
D-F-O says researchers relied on people to let them know when and where bottles were found, which helped them track recovery locations and dates.
The practice has since stopped, since satellites and supercomputers can provide much better estimates of currents. (The Canadian-Press)
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