Some coastal homes collapsed and some overturned structures fell into the sea or were surrounded by floodwaters in Newfoundland and Labrador, photos sent by the province showed on Saturday morning. In the provincial coastal town of Channel-Port aux Basques, “We already have houses … and things washed away,” Mayor Brian Button said in a Facebook video Saturday morning. The dangerous storm surges — ocean water pushed ashore — were expected, forecasters said. Rene Roy, editor-in-chief of the Wreckhouse Press, a local news publication, described a scene of carnage in the storm: trees uprooted, at least eight nearby homes gone in the wake of a violent storm, cabins floating, a boat carried by floodwaters in the middle of a local playground.”I lived through Hurricane Juan and this was a foggy day compared to this monster.” Roy, 50, told CNN. Hurricane Juan hit the Canadian coast as a Category 2 storm in 2003, downing power lines and trees and leaving widespread damage in its wake. “It’s surreal what’s happening here,” Roy added. Roy told CNN he was evacuated from his home and stayed with a cousin on higher ground. He has no idea if his house is still standing and emergency personnel stopped him from driving to check. It was not safe to do so, they warned. Photos from another local resident, Terry Osmond, showed a collapsed building in Channel-Port aux Basques surrounded by seawater on the shoreline, and splinters of wood and other debris scattered around the town. “Never in my life” has there been “so much destruction … in our area,” Osmond, 62, wrote to CNN. A woman in the city was rescued from water Saturday afternoon after her home collapsed, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. He was taken to a hospital. The extent of her injuries was not immediately known, police said. About 30 minutes’ drive to the east, several buildings were torn apart in the coastal Newfoundland community of Burnt Islands, video posted to Facebook by Pius Scott showed. Houses — or parts of them — collapsed in piles and debris littered the ground and seawater.
The devastation is “breathtaking,” says the mayor
Power outages were reported for more than half a million utility customers in Atlantic Canada Saturday afternoon, including more than 364,000 in Nova Scotia and more than 85,000 in Prince Edward Island, according to Poweroutage.com. Restoring power was among officials’ highest priorities, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said during a Saturday news conference, describing “shocking” damage across the province, including communities whose roads were washed out and filled with downed trees and power lines. But the weather was still too severe in many areas for crews to begin assessing and repairing damage, Nova Scotia Power president and CEO Peter Gregg said. More than 900 power technicians are en route to the area, but with parts of the province still experiencing storm conditions, Gregg added that some customers could experience power outages for several days. The storm made landfall in the dark Saturday as a strong posttropical cyclone in eastern Nova Scotia, between Kanso and Guysborough, and passed the province’s Cape Breton Island. Officials in the Cape Breton region declared a state of emergency and asked people to evacuate. The Cape Breton Regional Municipality tweeted Saturday afternoon that telecommunications systems were making it difficult for officials to receive information and urged residents to stay sheltered and not travel. “There are more than 70 road closures and hazards,” he warned. West of land, in the Nova Scotia capital of Halifax, the roof of an apartment complex collapsed, forcing about 100 people to evacuate to a shelter, Mayor Mike Savage told CNN on Saturday. “The size of this storm is breathtaking,” Savage later said at Saturday’s news conference. “It turned out to be everything that was predicted.” In Prince Edward Island’s capital, Charlottetown, police tweeted photos of damage, including the collapse of a home’s roof. “Conditions are unlike anything we’ve ever seen,” Charlottetown police tweeted early Saturday.
Fiona could become Canada’s Superstorm Sandy
After passing through the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Fiona should reach the lower north coast of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador by late Saturday, according to the Canadian Hurricane Centre. Hurricane gusts were reported Saturday morning in areas of Maritime Canada, generally ranging from 70 to 95 mph (110 to more than 150 km/h). A midday peak gust was 111 mph (179 km/h) in Arisaig, Nova Scotia, according to Environment Canada. Rainfall totals could reach 10 inches in some places, and significant flooding is possible, forecasters said. The storm has already killed at least five people and knocked out power to millions as it battered islands in the Caribbean and Atlantic earlier this week Fiona could become Canada’s version of Superstorm Sandy, said Chris Fogarty, Canadian Hurricane Director Center, before Fiona struck. Sandy in 2012 affected 24 states and the entire east coast, causing an estimated $78.7 billion in damage. An unofficial barometric pressure of 931.6 mb was recorded Saturday on Hart Island, which would make Fiona the lowest landfall storm on record in Canada, according to the Canadian Hurricane Centre.
Similarities to 2012 Superstorm Sandy
Fiona was a Category 4 storm early Wednesday over the Atlantic after passing the Turks and Caicos and remained so until Friday afternoon, when it weakened as it approached Canada. It became posttropical before making landfall, meaning instead of a warm core, the storm now had a cold core. It does not affect the storm’s ability to produce strong winds, rain and storm surge, it just means that the internal mechanics of the storm have changed. Fiona approached Canada at the same time as a trough of low pressure and cold air to the north, as Sandy did, according to Bob Robichaud of the Canadian Hurricane Centre. “Sandy was larger than Fiona is expected to be uniform. But the process is essentially the same, where two features feed off each other to create a powerful storm as we’ll see,” he said on Friday. As of 2 a.m. Saturday, hurricane-force winds extended up to 115 miles from Fiona’s center, while tropical-storm-force winds reached 405 miles out, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Large swells generated by Fiona could cause life-threatening surf and rip currents along not only Atlantic Canada, but also the northeast coast of the US and Bermuda, the hurricane center said. Allison Chinchar, Hannah Sarisohn, Sharif Paget, Derek Van Dam, Haley Brink, Aya Elamroussi, Theresa Waldrop and Christina Maxouris contributed to this CNN report.
