Changelog

When the emergency department in Lunenburg is closed, the next question is how long you will sit in Bridgewater. The page now shows Nova Scotia Health's own hourly estimate for South Shore Regional, with the range the province publishes and how it is expected to move through the day.

It is now The Highest Tides Ahead: the biggest predicted tides over the next six weeks, the dates worth noting in advance. High Water Watch answers the other question — whether wind and surge are piling water on top of one this week.

A high tide on its own is an ordinary day. What puts water on Edgewater and Main is a tall tide arriving at the same hour as a wind out of the bay, with a storm surge underneath it — and until now nothing on the site read the wind's direction or a surge forecast at all. The new page lines all three up, high water by high water: the Hydrographic Service's predictions for Mahone Harbour, the wind at that hour on the Beaufort scale, and how far the nearest gauge that forecasts a water level (Bedford Institute, 66 km east in Halifax Harbour) is running above its own tide table. You can also get one email when the three line up. It describes water and wind; it is not a flood warning, and Environment Canada's alerts are linked on the page.

Who to Call listed Fishermen's Memorial in Lunenburg as "Emergency department open daily 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 p.m." That is the posted schedule, but on a lot of days it isn't true — the hours get cut at short notice, and a flat line like that could send someone to a closed door. The health section now says plainly that the hours change, and points at the new "Is the ER Open?" page for today's answer. South Shore Regional in Bridgewater has gained its address and phone number, which it was missing, and virtual urgent care has been added — it runs at the Lunenburg hospital daily, walk-in, even when the emergency department is closed.

The nearest emergency room is at Fishermen's Memorial in Lunenburg, about ten minutes away. Its posted hours are 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day — but those hours are often cut back, or the department closes for several days, and the change is announced only on Nova Scotia Health's provincial notice board. On the day this went live the board said the department was closing at noon. So the new tool reads that board every fifteen minutes and holds it against the posted hours. If there is a notice for Lunenburg, the notice is what you see at the top of the page, in Nova Scotia Health's own words, and the timetable moves below it. If the board can't be reached, the page says so rather than showing a reassuring green. It also carries the things you need when the answer is no: the 24-hour emergency department at South Shore Regional in Bridgewater, about twenty minutes on; virtual urgent care, which runs at the Lunenburg hospital every day from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. even when the emergency department is shut; and 811. In a medical emergency, call 911 — don't drive to a department that might be closed.

Environment Canada's live weather warnings for Mahone Bay, the wind right now, and who to call when a storm floods the waterfront or takes out the power. It carries the local rule of thumb — a southeast wind landing on a high tide is the one to watch — and, because the town runs its own electric utility, the numbers that actually help here rather than the provincial map.

A colored-pencil drawing of the three churches standing in a row along the cove, their steeples reflected in the calm harbour, now heads the town page.

Mahone Bay runs its own electric utility, so when the power goes out here it's the Town you call, not Nova Scotia Power — and there is no live outage map. This new board lets neighbours answer the question everyone asks first: is it just my house, or the whole area? Tap the part of town you're in — Main Street, Edgewater Street, Kinburn, Hawthorn Road or Maders Cove — to report that your power is out, and see where else people are reporting the same. Reports clear themselves after a few hours, so the board keeps up on its own. It always shows the Town's fault line (902-624-8327, after-hours 902-543-3251); it is neighbours checking in with each other, not a channel to the utility.

The new Which Bin Goes Out? tool replaces it — it shows the same what-goes-out legend and also works out which week is next, including the summer purple weeks and the two holiday moves, so keeping the older static list would just be two tools for the same question.

Which Bin Goes Out? reads the Town's 2026 collection calendar and shows the next collection day and exactly what to put out — a green, blue or summer purple week — plus the weeks ahead, the set-out rules, and the special collections (electronics, leaf and yard, the free curbside giveaway weekend, Christmas trees). The two 2026 holiday moves are already built in.

The highest predicted high tides in the weeks ahead, from the Canadian Hydrographic Service's Mahone Harbour readings, so you know which days to keep an eye on Main and Edgewater Streets. On a calm day the tide alone rarely reaches the street — it's a storm surge on top of a high tide that pushes water over, as during storm Lee in 2023 — so it pairs every date with Environment Canada's coastal-flooding page and the local emergency channels. A prediction, not a warning.

The local numbers worth keeping: emergencies, the Town's own power/water/sewer lines and after-hours line, health, and getting around without a car. Tap to call.

What goes out each Wednesday — recycling and paper on blue weeks, the green cart and garbage on green weeks — with the set-out rules and a link to the Town's dated 2026 calendar.

Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia is now live, starting with two everyday tools: the blue-week/green-week collection schedule and a who-to-call directory.