Fiona was downgraded to a post-tropical storm after hitting Canada’s Atlantic coast as a hurricane on Saturday, leaving a missing woman and half a million homes without power.
With maximum winds of 80 kilometers per hour, Fiona will hit northern Newfoundland, southeastern Labrador and parts of southeastern Quebec this Sunday with “strong winds,” indicated the Canadian Hurricane Center (CFC), although it clarified that “these winds will decrease later in the day”he added.
Two women were swept away by the waters in Channel-Port aux Basquesin the province of Newfoundland, said a police spokeswoman.
One of the two victims was rescued and hospitalized, while the other remains missing.
At least 20 houses were destroyed in an area that looks like “a war zone,” Channel-Port-aux-Basques Mayor Brian Button said in a video posted on Facebook late Saturday, adding that residents had been encouraged to shelter in a local school.
“Fiona came and left her mark on Nova Scotia and the neighboring provinces,” said Nova Scotia Governor Tim Houston. according to the AFP news agency.
Late on Saturday, nearly 500,000 homes were without power in the provinces of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick.
Conditions are like nothing we’ve ever seen. We are logging reports of downed trees and wires but will only be responding to emergency calls. -Dispatcher Kelly ☎️ pic.twitter.com/gX7YPTPDSN
— Charlottetown Police (@ChtownPolice) September 24, 2022
Some homes will be without power “for several days,” warned Nova Scotia Power operator director Peter Gregg.
“It will take time for Nova Scotia to recover. I just ask for everyone’s patience,” Houston said in a statement.
Rainfall of 192 millimeters and waves of 12 meters high hit Nova Scotia – where Fiona made landfall Saturday morning with winds of 144 km / h- and west of Newfoundland, according to weather services.
A 12 hour doppler radar animation of #Fiona as it made landfall overnight. Preliminary reports from Sydney airport with a gust to 140 km/hr, with other reports over 150 km/hr. #nsstorm pic.twitter.com/qpaXjikV2S
— ECCC Weather Nova Scotia (@ECCCWeatherNS) September 24, 2022
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who canceled his participation in Shinzo Abe’s funeral in Japan to closely monitor the situation, announced on Twitter on Saturday that federal authorities were ready “to provide additional resources to the provinces.”
Fiona passed through Bermuda on Friday, after wreaking havoc in the Caribbean, leaving at least seven dead: four in Puerto Rico, two in the Dominican Republic and one in Guadeloupe.
