HALIFAX - The centre of post-tropical storm Teddy is expected to make landfall in eastern Nova Scotia this morning, delivering another round of strong winds and heavy rain to a province that has already had plenty of both.

At 6 a.m. local time, the centre of the storm was about 70 kilometres off the province's eastern shore, where residents and first responders are particularly worried about flooding caused by a storm surge.

The large storm was churning out winds over 100 kilometres per hour as it neared the coastline.

Overnight, thousands of homes and businesses across Nova Scotia lost power.

By 7 a.m., about 4,500 Nova Scotia Power customers were still in the dark, though the utility said it had already restored electricity to 16,000 customers overnight - most them in western Nova Scotia.

Schools were closed, public transit in Halifax was suspended, many flights were cancelled but no major damage was reported - aside from downed and damaged trees and power lines.

Citizens living in high-risk locations in the Sambro area, Peggy's Cove and along the eastern shore were asked by Halifax Regional Municipality to make plans immediately to self-evacuate.

The storm was reclassified as a post-tropical storm overnight, but that change doesn't mean Teddy has become a weakling. The designation refers to the structure of the storm, not its strength.

On Tuesday, the Canadian Hurricane Centre and provincial officials made it clear that the storm surge ahead of Teddy was their main concern, especially with 10-metre waves in the forecast.

Though residents were warned to stay away from the coast, photos on social media and on web cameras showed plenty of gawkers on the rocks at Peggy's Cove and near the sprawling beaches at Lawrencetown, an area east of Halifax.

Officials in Halifax have suspended the city's municipal bus and harbour ferry services. Garbage collection was also cancelled for today.

Weather warnings were in effect for virtually all of Atlantic Canada.

Nova Scotia Power has 300 crews standing by to handle power outages - 170 of them from other Atlantic provinces.

The storm was expected to track over eastern Nova Scotia, the eastern half of Prince Edward Island and southwestern Newfoundland.

Though residents of southwestern Newfoundland have been warned to watch for a storm surge later today, the wind and rain wasn't expected to pose much of a threat.

Marine Atlantic, the Crown corporation that operates the ferry service linking Nova Scotia with Newfoundland, has cancelled all sailings across the Cabot Strait.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published 23, 2020.