More than 412,000 customers were without power early Saturday morning in Nova Scotia, just after Hurricane Fiona landed on the province’s east coast.
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Nova Scotia has been experiencing winds of over 144 km/h since early Saturday morning and the 200 mm of rain has almost already been reached.
Shortly before 7 a.m. Saturday, the Cape Breton Regional Municipality declared a local state of emergency “given widespread power outages, road closures, displaced residents and structural damage,” according to the municipality.
Cape Breton residents are urged to take shelter and call 9-1-1 for evacuation if their shelter is destroyed. A Red Cross shelter is in place at Center 200 in Sydney. Comfort centers will be opened as soon as safe travel is possible. “It is not possible to travel in a secure way at the moment. Power lines and downed trees are a significant hazard. Stay safe,” said the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.
In Gaspésie – Île-de-la-Madeleine, 2,597 customers had no more electricity around 6 a.m. Saturday morning, while the Gaspé Peninsula had already received about 50 mm of rain since midnight, with winds blowing until 110 km/h.
The Îles-de-la-Madeleine had already received more than 100 mm of water since midnight accompanied by winds blowing up to 150 km/h.
Four Hydro-Quebec teams were deployed to the Magdalen Islands to respond to emergencies, as outages could not be repaired until the wind died down.
The North Shore was experiencing winds of up to 70 km / h in gusts on Saturday morning.
However, the weather forecast for the rest of Quebec is expected to be calm for the weekend.
We remind you that the hurricane alert has been in effect since Friday 6:32 p.m. for the eastern tip of Gaspésie, the Magdalen Islands, Anticosti Island and the Lower North Shore.