by Ex-Hurricane Fiona left hundreds of thousands of Canadians without power on Sunday as coastal communities faced washed-out roads, downed trees and power lines and homes swept out to sea.
After moving up into the Atlantic last week, Fiona made landfall in Atlantic Canada around 3 a.m. local time Saturday as a strong post-tropical cyclone.
The Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador bore the brunt of the winds, heavy rainfall and high tides.
More than 200,000 people remained without power in Nova Scotia on Sunday, according to the local power authority. In Prince Edward Island, 82,000 people were out, according to the local power company.
Authorities in Port aux Basques, a town on the southwestern tip of Newfoundland, launched a search Sunday for a 73-year-old woman who may have been swept out to sea.
The woman was last seen inside her home on Saturday moments before a powerful wave hit the residence, ripping out part of the basement, according to Corporal Jolene Garland, media relations officer for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Newfoundland and the Labrador.
Fiona, which was downgraded from a Category 4 hurricane to a post-tropical cyclone late Friday, was one of the strongest storms to hit Nova Scotia in recent history. Photo: Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press via AP
RCMP officers were unable to access the area Saturday because of the extreme conditions, said Cpl. Garland. An aerial search was underway, he said.
Twenty homes in the rural community were swept away by Fiona, he said, and another 200 homes were damaged. About 200 residents had to be evacuated.
Rodney Barney, a meteorologist for Environment Canada based in Newfoundland and Labrador, said winds dropped significantly Sunday, allowing recovery efforts to begin.
Port aux Basques took a pounding during high tides at the height of the storm, he said. Fiona’s strong winds created surges more than a foot high. The coastal city also set a record for its highest known water level when Fiona’s floods topped nearly 9ft, he said.
There have been no confirmed deaths from Fiona, authorities said, although a lack of cellphone service and electricity in many of the hardest-hit communities has hampered communications.
Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said troops are being deployed to help line crews and first responders clear downed trees and restore power and transportation services across eastern regions.
Authorities in Port aux Basques launched a search Sunday for a 73-year-old woman who may have been swept out to sea.
Photo:
JOHN MORRIS/REUTERS
The 5th Canadian Division, which includes reserve units from Atlantic Canada, said on social media that its members had been intercepted for storm relief.
“We are here to serve our country and our communities,” the platoon said on Twitter.
Fiona first made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 18 as a hurricane and left most of the island’s residents without power. The storm has been blamed for the deaths of at least seven people—four in Puerto Rico, two in the Dominican Republic and one in Guadeloupe.
Even as Fiona passed over Canada, the National Hurricane Center put another potential hurricane, this one named Ian, on the radar for Cuba and Florida.
Ian, a tropical storm currently moving in the Caribbean Sea, is expected to strengthen to a hurricane late Sunday and reach major hurricane status by late Monday or early Tuesday as the storm approaches western Cuba.
The storm’s path toward Florida is still uncertain, the NHC said, with some models suggesting a westward turn that would direct it toward the pannel area sometime Thursday.
Fiona washed out roads and damaged homes in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland.
Photo:
JOHN MORRIS/REUTERS
Write to Ginger Adams Otis at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
