Hurricane Fiona has prompted a wave of cancellations and postponements as people prepare for high winds and heavy rain starting late Friday night and continuing through Saturday.

CHMA called up Town of Sackville Special Projects Manager Kieran Miller to find out what advice and information the town has to share:

Miller recommends people, “secure any loose objects on your property, clean up any downspouts and make sure that you have a 72 hour emergency preparedness kit on hand.”

She also recommends people sign up for the town’s new alert system, Voyent Alert.

“We hope never to have to use our emergency alert system," says Miller, “but we recommend all residents sign up.”

Voyent Alert allows people to chose between alerts delivered via phone call, email, text, or through a smartphone app.

Sackville is prone to freshwater flooding, especially when high tides prevent freshwater from draining through existing aboiteaux into the tidal Tantramar River. High tides at about 11:15 p.m. Friday night and 11:40 a.m. Saturday could be critical times for flooding risk, depending on when the heaviest rainfall arrives.

Miller says the town’s public works staff are, “in a state of readiness. They’re getting everything ready to go should they need to take action.”

In case of an extended power outage, the Tantramar Veteran’s Memorial Civic Centre on Main Street is equipped with a generator and could be put into use as a warming centre or emergency centre.

For further advice on how to prepare for possible emergencies, including what goes into a basic 72 hour emergency kit, check the New Brunswick Emergency Measures organization website at gnb.ca/emo.

Fall Fair moves inside, cancels some events

The Town of Sackville has announced changes to its Fall Fair schedule in light of the weather warnings.

Some events have been cancelled outright, such as Hinchey’s Rides and Amusements, the Fall Fair parade, the Main Street Mile, and Family Day at the Park.

All activities planned for the main tent have been moved to the Sackville Curling Club. That includes music on Friday and Saturday nights. The Concerts planned for the day on Saturday at Bill Johnstone park will be held upstairs at the Curling Club. Other activities will also move to the Curling Club, such as opening ceremonies, the youth dance, the Rotary chilli event, the children’s parade, and a Sunday morning church service.

A fireworks display has been rescheduled to Sunday night at 8:30 p.m.

Recreation director Matt Pryde says the schedule is still open to change depending on the severity of the storm. He says people’s safety is the town’s top priority.

Mt A cancels homecoming events

Mount Allison University has announced it is cancelling or postponing all homecoming events planned for this weekend, in light of the extreme weather forecasted.

The Mount A campus will be open today for regular operations.

The soccer games originally scheduled for Friday, as well as the football game originally scheduled for Saturday, are cancelled.

The university is also asking anyone with a car parked in its King Street parking lot to move it to another location due to a risk of flooding near King and Main.

No Farmer’s Market Saturday

The Sackville Farmer’s Market has cancelled its annual Harvest Supper event, and has also announced the market will not go ahead this Saturday, due to weather warnings.