Canadians are bracing for the strongest storm ever to hit their country’s shores.   

  “Every Nova Scotian should prepare today and prepare for the impact,” John Lohr, minister responsible for the province’s Office of Emergency Management, said at a news conference Thursday.   

  Hurricane Fiona has battered the Caribbean, is forecast by Bermuda as a dangerous Category 3 storm and shows no sign of slowing before it hits Canada on Saturday morning.   

  “This could be the Canadian version of (Hurricane) Sandy,” said Chris Fogarty, a meteorologist for Canada’s hurricane center, pointing to Fiona’s size and intensity and combination of hurricane and winter storm characteristics.  Hurricane Sandy hit 24 states and the entire east coast, causing an estimated $78.7 billion in damage.   

  Fiona was about 1,200 miles southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Thursday morning and the region is already bracing for a rare and historic impact.   

  “Please take this seriously because we are seeing weather numbers on our weather maps that are rarely seen here,” Fogarty said.   

  Lohr, with the Nova Scotia emergency management office, said the storm could be “very dangerous” for the province.   

  “The storm is expected to bring severe and damaging wind gusts, very high waves and coastal storm surges, heavy and dangerous rainfall rates and extended power outages,” Lohr said Thursday.  “The time to get ready is now before Fiona comes out tomorrow afternoon.”   

  The lowest pressure ever recorded in Canada was 940 millibars in January 1977 in Newfoundland, said Brian Tang, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University at Albany.  “Current weather forecast models indicate that Fiona will reach eastern Nova Scotia with a pressure of around 925 to 935 millibars, which would easily set a new record,” he said.   

  A pressure of 920 to 944 millibars is typically found in a Category 4 hurricane.   

  Many forecasters, including Fogarty, are comparing this storm to 2003’s Hurricane Juan, which hit the Canadian coast as a Category 2 storm.   

  “This storm was much smaller.  This is huge,” Fogarty said.   

  The storm’s hurricane-force winds extend 70 miles in each direction from its center – and tropical storm-force winds extend more than 200 miles.  A path 140 miles wide could experience hurricane-force winds, and an area more than 400 miles wide could experience tropical storm-force winds.   

  And Fiona could grow even larger by the time the storm reaches Canada, according to Tang.   

  Fiona is expected to make landfall in Atlantic Canada on Friday evening and the region will begin to experience worsening conditions earlier in the day.

Here’s the latest on Hurricane #Fiona.
Hurricane Fiona has the potential to be a landmark weather event in Eastern Canada this weekend and we encourage the public to continue to monitor the forecast regularly. Read the new releases at: pic.twitter.com/RSdj9L75RI — ECCC Canadian Hurricane Center (@ECCC_CHC) September 22, 2022 “Fiona is clearly a hurricane at the moment. As it begins to interact with a cold weather system and jet stream, it will develop into a superstorm with characteristics of both a severe hurricane and a severe autumn cyclone with hurricane-force winds, very heavy rain and large storm surge and waves.” Tang explained.

  The National Hurricane Center predicts the storm “will continue to produce hurricane-force winds as it crosses Nova Scotia and moves into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.”  In fact, the storm could still pack winds of more than 100 mph when it makes landfall.   

  Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and western Newfoundland could see up to 6 inches of rain, with some areas receiving up to 10 inches.  This could lead to significant flash flooding.   

  “We want people to take this very seriously and be prepared for a long period of utility outages and structural damage to buildings,” Fogarty explained.   

  Life-threatening storm surge and large waves are forecast for the area.   

  Mike Savage, the mayor of the regional municipality of Halifax, Nova Scotia’s capital, warned wave watchers and surfers to stay away from coastal areas, adding that people living near the coast “should be prepared to move at short notice period of time and to pay close attention to possible evacuation orders.”   

  “Across the Halifax region you should be prepared for downed trees, widespread power outages and localized flooding,” the mayor added.   

  Cape Breton Township Mayor Amanda McDougall said officials are preparing and working to ensure residents are safe as the area is in the “immediate impact zone.”   

  “We have to make sure there’s a center for people to go to before the storm because we know there’s different types of housing that won’t be able to withstand the winds, the flooding, buildings can,” McDougall said.   

  How to prepare for a hurricane   

  Some of the waves over the eastern parts of St.  Lawrence could be higher than 39 feet, and the western gulf will see waves from the north up to 26 feet in places, which will likely cause significant erosion on the northern beaches of Prince Edward Island, the Canadian hurricane center said.   

  The hurricane center also warns of coastal flooding, especially during high tide.   

  It has been about 50 years since such a powerful storm hit Nova Scotia and Cape Breton.  Both were winter storms – in 1974 and 1976, Fogarty said.  Many people won’t even remember these two storms, so forecasters are trying to send a clear message to residents to prepare.