Fiona makes landfall and hits the Atlantic coast of Canada with strong winds and rain

CNN
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Hurricane force Fiona Canada’s eastern coast is ripping apart after making landfall in Nova Scotia early Saturday, engulfing the region with torrential rains and devastating winds and causing hundreds of thousands of blackouts in what could be a “historic” climate event for the country.

Fiona, which is now a tropical cyclone, had maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour — strength of a Category 1 hurricane — at 8 a.m. ET Saturday, with its epicenter over the Gulf of St. Lawrence after crossing Nova Scotia, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The storm wiped out electricity in most areas of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island Saturday morning, as winds and rain extended away from the storm’s epicenter. More than 540,000 outages have been reported in Atlantic Canada, including nearly all 86,000 PEI customers, according to utility tracking. Poweroutage.com.

Officials of the Cape Breton District of Nova Scotia He asked people to take shelter in place.

“Across the county, we’re hearing reports of damaged trees and power lines as the storm continues to pass,” chirp.

Residents of New Brunswick, southern Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador also encounter severe weather as Fiona’s trails follow north after landing between Canso and Gisboro in eastern Nova Scotia.

Officials along Canada’s Atlantic coast have urged those in Fiona Road to be on high alert and prepare for the impact of the storm, which has already killed at least five people and knocked out electricity to millions. Hit many Caribbean or Atlantic islands this week.

“We’re still making calls to residents (until late Friday) just to try and give some alerts… you have to be ready to move at any moment if you haven’t already moved by that time,” Brian Patton, the mayor told Channel. Newfoundland-Port or Basque, for CNN on Saturday.

Canada meteorologists said Friday that Fiona is on track to be an “extreme weather event” in eastern Canada, where rainfall threatens for nearly two months.

“This could be a historic event for Canada in terms of tropical cyclone intensity,” and it could also become the Canadian version of Storm Sandysaid Chris Fogarty, director of the Canadian Hurricane Center. Sandy in 2012 affected 24 states and all of the East Coast, causing an estimated $78.7 billion in damage.

An unofficial atmospheric pressure of 931.6 megabytes was recorded on Hart Island, which would make Fiona the lowest landfall storm on record in Canada, according to the Canadian Hurricane Center. Wind observations were recorded on Beaver Island in eastern Nova Scotia at 100 mph (161 km/h).

After passing through the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Fiona should reach the lower north shore of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador by late Saturday, Canadian Hurricane Center He said. Tornadoes have been reported across parts of Maritime Canada, ranging from 70 to 95 mph (110 to over 150 km/h).

It was Fiona Class 4 A storm early Wednesday over the Atlantic after crossing the Turks and Caicos Islands and remained so until Friday afternoon, when it weakened on approach to Canada. had become Post-Tropical Before making landfall, arriving at the same time with a low-pressure basin and cold air to the north – much like Sandy He did, according to Bob Rubichod of the Canadian Hurricane Center.

“Sandy was bigger than Fiona expected to be equal. But the process is basically the same — you have two advantages that kind of feed off each other to create one powerful storm as we’ll see overnight and into tomorrow,” he said Friday.

Hurricane-force winds extended as far as 175 miles from the center of Fiona while tropical storm-force winds reached 405 miles as of 8 a.m. ET, to me US National Hurricane Center.

In the days leading up to Fiona’s expected arrival, officials ramped up services to help those in need and appealed to residents to be vigilant.

“It’s potentially very dangerous,” said John Loehr, the minister in charge of Nova Scotia’s Office of Emergency Management, on Thursday. “The effects are expected to be felt throughout the county.”

Loehr said residents should prepare for damaging winds, high waves, coastal storms and torrential rain, which could lead to prolonged power outages. Emergency officials encouraged people to secure outdoor materials, trim trees, charge cell phones, and set up a 72-hour emergency kit.

shelters for residents has set Across Nova Scotia, including multiple in Halifax County, according to officials.

The area hasn’t experienced a storm of this intensity in nearly 50 years, according to Fogarty.

“Please take it seriously because we see meteorological numbers in our weather maps that are rarely seen here,” Fogarty said.

Prince Edward Island officials are also urging residents to prepare for the worst as the storm approaches.

Tania Mullally, who serves as the county’s emergency management chief, said one of the most pressing concerns with Fiona is the historic storm that is expected to unleash her.

“The storm surge is sure to be significant. Flooding we haven’t seen and cannot measure,” Molly said on Thursday. during update.

Modeling by the Canadian Hurricane Center indicates that the altitude “depending on the region, it could be anywhere from 1.8 to 2.4 meters (6-8 feet),” Rubishod said.

Molly said the northern part of the island would bear the brunt of the storm due to the direction of the winds, which could potentially cause property damage and coastal flooding.

The Nova Scotia Office of Emergency Management said all regional campgrounds, beaches and day-use parks as well as Shubenacadie Wildlife Park closed Friday.