Canada was preparing on Friday for the arrival of Hurricane Fiona, described as “historic” by the country’s weather services, after wreaking havoc in the Caribbean and causing flooding and power outages in Bermuda.
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“Where it will rank in the history books we will have to determine after the fact, but it will certainly be an historic and extreme event for eastern Canada,” said Bob Robichaud during a press conference on Friday. meteorologist with the Canadian Hurricane Center, calling Fiona a “major” hurricane.
After briefly placing it once again in category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale (which has 5), the National Hurricane Center (NHC), based in Miami in the United States, reverted Fiona to a category hurricane. 3 in its last bulletin, with gusts going to more than 200 km / h.
“Although a gradual weakening is expected”, Fiona should be a “powerful cyclone” during its passage through Canada, writes the NHC. As of 9 p.m. GMT, the hurricane was just under 600 km from Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Authorities in this province at the eastern tip of Canada have issued a power outage alert, asking everyone to stay indoors and have enough supplies for at least 72 hours.
“Worried”
In the neighboring province of Prince Edward Island, residents were also preparing for the arrival of the hurricane.
“We’d be lying if we said we’re not worried about Fiona,” Lisa Gale, owner of a waterfront restaurant in Charlottetown, told CTV.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also asked everyone to “take the right precautions.”
“The storm is expected to make landfall on the Atlantic coast of Canada tomorrow morning (Saturday) and is expected to have a significant impact on the entire region, including parts of eastern Quebec,” he warned during a press conference on Friday.
power outages
Earlier Friday, Bermuda had been rocked by 160 km/h gusts and heavy rains. But after wreaking havoc in the Caribbean, Fiona passed some 100 miles off British territory in the mid-Atlantic Ocean with no casualties or major damage.
“We are not out of danger. Do not take the roads”, warned David Burt in a tweet, the Prime Minister of this very small archipelago of 64,000 inhabitants and 54 km2.
Electricity supplier Belco reported that 15,000 of 36,000 homes were still without power Friday afternoon.
Residents posted images of flooding and downed power lines on social media.
“This morning (Friday) it’s very windy outside,” Jason Rainer, owner of a souvenir shop in the capital Hamilton, told AFP. “We had some small damage to our premises, but nothing serious,” he said, pointing out that a few doors and windows had been torn off.
Isolated
The territory, located a thousand kilometers from the United States and accustomed to hurricanes, is one of the most isolated places in the world, which makes any evacuation almost impossible in the event of an emergency.
Locals “try to take it as it comes. And pray,” said JoeAnn Scott, who works in a store in Hamilton.
Due to its geographical location, the main island had therefore taken the preparations seriously. Buildings and houses must also comply with strict construction rules to withstand storms.
“Buildings are really made to last, and we never see the devastation that the Caribbean has gone through over the years,” said Elaine Murray, who helped her husband put metal plates on their business in Hamilton before the passage of the hurricane.
Fiona caused the deaths of four people in Puerto Rico, a US territory, according to an official quoted by the media. One death was reported in Guadeloupe (France) and two in the Dominican Republic.