HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA: On Saturday, hurricane-force winds from the powerful storm Fiona smashed into eastern Canada, nearly a week after it devastated areas of the Caribbean. According to the US National Hurricane Centre, the storm’s core—now dubbed Post-Tropical Cyclone Fiona—was moving across eastern Nova Scotia and bringing with it strong winds and torrential rain.
As it moved north, the storm had lost some strength. According to the NHC, the storm had maximum winds of 90 miles per hour (150 kph) and was moving north at a speed of around 26 mph (43 kph) as of 5 a.m. (0900 GMT). It was located about 160 miles (255 km) northeast of Halifax. Fiona was expected to bring strong gusts, storm surges, and lots of rain.
Fiona was anticipated to continue to have hurricane-force winds until Saturday afternoon, the NHC said, despite a gradual weakening being predicted over the next few days. Formerly a hurricane, the storm that tore over the Caribbean islands earlier this week killed at least eight people and left nearly all of Puerto Rico’s 3.3 million residents without electricity during a scorching heat wave.
Five days later, over a million people were still without electricity. In order to get briefings and support the government’s emergency response, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau postponed his Saturday departure for Japan, where he was scheduled to attend the funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The majority of central Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, which is home to over 150,000 people, and some of Newfoundland were under a hurricane warning, according to the Miami-based NHC. Ian Hubbard, a meteorologist with the Canadian Hurricane Centre, said on Friday that Fiona’s effects would be felt far and wide.
The centre of it is one thing, but the weather that goes along with it, such as the rain and the locations of all the high winds, will affect a much greater area, he explained.
