Weather report. Hurricane Fiona leaves ‘mark’ of destruction on Canada’s east coast

Uprooted trees, washed away houses, damaged power lines… After Guadeloupe and the Dominican Republic, Hurricane Fiona continues its course. He made landfall early Saturday on the Atlantic coast of Canada, in the province of Nova Scotia (Eastern Canada) with winds above 144 kilometers per hour.

« Fiona has come and left her mark on Nova Scotia and neighboring provinces, » Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said at a Saturday afternoon news conference. « It’s not completely over, » he warned.

A woman carried away by the waters

Violent gusts are expected to persist into the evening, noted meteorologist Bob Robichaud, noting however that “conditions should gradually improve over the next three to six hours”. According to Canadian authorities, Fiona was still carrying sustained winds of 120 km/h at 7 p.m. (French time) and was moving at a speed of 37 km/h towards the northeast. « Big waves have reached the eastern shore of Nova Scotia and southwestern Newfoundland, and they could exceed 12 meters, » they warn.

Two women were washed away in Channel-Port-aux-Basques, in the province of Newfoundland, according to a police spokeswoman. One of the two victims, carried away after the collapse of his house, was rescued and hospitalized, the other remains missing.

“Thinking of everyone affected by Hurricane Fiona. Know that we are with you,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted, announcing that federal authorities stood ready “to provide the provinces with additional resources.”

« We have never seen such weather conditions, » police in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, said earlier on Twitter.

« It’s incredible, there is no electricity, no wifi, no network, » confirmed the mayor of the city, Philip Brown, on the public channel Radio-Canada. “A lot of trees have fallen, there is a lot of flooding on the roads,” he added.

A tree fell on a fire truck and because of a torn power line, the firefighters who were there had to wait for the intervention of technicians from Nova Scotia Power to be able to get out.

The Canadian weather services had prepared the population for a storm described as « historic » for the country. Canada had issued several weather warnings for most of its eastern coasts.

Hundreds of thousands of homes without electricity

A few hours after making landfall, Hurricane Fiona was already causing property damage, depriving more than 500,000 homes of electricity, mainly in Nova Scotia, according to the cumulative figures provided by several operators.

The authorities of the province of Nova Scotia had also issued an alert to power cuts, asking everyone to stay inside and have enough supplies for at least 72 hours.

Fiona is expected to become « a very intense post-tropical storm » after making landfall, producing « very heavy rain and high winds » as well as « big waves ».