Fiona, now a post-tropical cyclone after a destructive run as a hurricane, made landfall in Atlantic Canada early Saturday with hurricane-force winds and heavy rain.
The storm has already toppled trees and power lines and left thousands without power.
The Canadian Hurricane Centre called Fiona a “historic storm for eastern Canada” and a “potential landmark weather event” in a region where hurricanes are relatively rare. Many storms weaken when they reach colder waters.
Fiona is forecast to maintain hurricane-force winds until Saturday afternoon, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. It is expected to gradually weaken in the next few days.
Forecasters also warned Fiona could bring widespread power outages, and about 400,000 Nova Scotia Power customers were without power Saturday morning, the company reported.
Where is Fiona?
Saturday morning, the center of Fiona was over the Gulf of St. Lawrence, about 200 miles northeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph and was moving north at 23 mph.
Before passing through Bermuda on Friday, the storm devastated large swaths of the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Officials in Bermuda reported no serious damage.
At least five people have died after Hurricane Fiona — two in Puerto Rico, two in the Dominican Republic and one in the French island of Guadeloupe.
PUERTO RICAN INDEPENDENCE:After Hurricane Fiona, will Puerto Rico ever become a state or an independent nation?
Storm topples power lines, collapses roofs
As Fiona ripped through Atlantic Canada, it toppled trees and power lines and left collapsed roofs in its wake.
Police in Charlottetown in Prince Edward Island reported downed trees and posted photos of the damage on Twitter, including one that shows the roof of a home collapsed.
“Conditions are like nothing we’ve ever seen,” the police department said on Twitter.
Local police are responding to “road washouts, downed power lines, downed trees and other debris on Nova Scotia roadways,” the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said on Twitter. The Nova Scotia Emergency Management Office is currently assessing the extent of the damage.
Nova Scotia Mayor Mike Savage told CNN that 100 people were displaced when an apartment roof collapsed.
Fiona makes landfall in Canada
Fiona made landfall in Canada early Saturday morning with sustained winds of up to 100 mph, the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane, according to AccuWeather.
AccuWeather meteorologists forecast that Fiona may become “one of the strongest storms on record” in eastern Canada.
“This could be the storm of a lifetime for some people,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said.
The storm is the “lowest pressured land falling storm on record in Canada,” according to the Canadian Hurricane Centre. Typically, the farther barometric pressure drops, the stronger the storm will be.
THE AFTERMATH:In Puerto Rico, Hurricane Fiona leaves a ‘nightmare.’
The storm is about the same size as post-tropical storm Dorian, which pounded Canada in 2019, said Bob Robichaud, warning preparedness meteorologist for the Canadian Hurricane Centre. But Fiona is expected to be stronger.
“It’s certainly going to be an historic, extreme event for eastern Canada,” Robichaud said.
5 YEARS AFTER MARIA:Puerto Ricans were still struggling with Hurricane Maria’s devastation. Then came Fiona.
Puerto Ricans furious over lack of power
Half of Puerto Rico was still without power more than five days after Hurricane Fiona struck, and Puerto Ricans were growing frustrated with the island’s private electricity transmission and distribution company.
The situation was worsened by fuel disruptions that forced grocery stores, gas stations and other essential businesses to close.
Puerto Rico’s power grid was already struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, which razed the system in 2017.
HOW TO HELP:Mutual aid, nonprofits to support
Contributing: The Associated Press
Contact News Now Reporter Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.
