HALIFAX – Forecasters say Hurricane Fiona is shaping up to be a “historic” storm when it hits Atlantic Canada and eastern Quebec this weekend, packing winds that will likely exceed those of 2019’s Tropical Storm Dorian.
Bob Robichaud, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, told a news conference that as of Thursday afternoon, modeling was predicting a “year-round” low pressure across the region that will bring thunderstorms and rainfall between 100 and 200 millimeters.
“It’s going to be a storm everyone remembers when it’s all said and done,” Robichaud said.  “One of the words I use is historical.”
Robichaud said it remains to be seen whether wind gusts will set records, but added that the expectation was that gusts would be stronger in some areas than the 150 km/h winds felt during Dorian when it made landfall.
Dave Pickles, chief operating officer of Nova Scotia Power, said widespread power outages are expected and the company will place about 800 people in locations around the province.
“The trees are in full bloom.  They will come down and it will cause blackouts,” he predicted.
John Lohr, the minister responsible for Nova Scotia’s Office of Emergency Management, said Thursday that there is no longer any doubt that a severe storm will sweep through the region.
“Fiona is different….  It has the potential to be very dangerous.  Every Nova Scotian should prepare for an impact,” he said.
Heading north, Fiona was expected to reach Nova Scotia waters by Friday night before passing the province’s eastern mainland, Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island on Saturday, and then Quebec’s Lower North Shore and in southeast Labrador early Sunday.
Ian Hubbard, a meteorologist at the Canadian Hurricane Center in Dartmouth, New York, said the worst gusts were forecast to hit eastern Nova Scotia, Cape Breton and parts of Prince Edward Island.
Conditions are expected to bring heavy surf to coastal areas of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, with waves off Nova Scotia expected to rise to over 10 meters, while wave heights could be more than 12 meters to the east parts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  There is also a chance of flooding in coastal and inland areas.
Hubbard said if anything, the storm’s track had shifted slightly westward and inland since the beginning of the week.
Amanda McDougall, mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, said officials were preparing a shelter for people to move into before the storm hit.
“We’ve been through these kinds of events in the past, but my fear is not to this extent,” he said.  “The effects will be big, real and immediate.”
McDougall said emergency planners are concerned that certain types of housing, particularly older homes and RVs, “will not be able to withstand the winds and flooding like other buildings.”
In Charlottetown, the director of PEI’s Emergency Management Agency said at a briefing that the province is preparing for the worst.  “The storm surge is definitely going to be significant,” Tanya Mullally said.  “The words they’ve been using with the Canadian Hurricane Center is ‘historic storm’ – so, flooding that we haven’t seen and can’t even measure.”
Meanwhile, Tim Marsh, president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture, said the storm comes as a potential “worst-case scenario” for many farmers who are in the middle of their harvest season.
Marsh arrived inside the cab of his tractor Thursday as he rushed to bring his corn to his farm outside Windsor, NS, in the agriculturally rich Annapolis Valley.
He said apple growers and vine growers in particular could be hit hard by strong winds.
“Apple guys especially — they’ve only really been picking in the last couple of weeks and there’s going to be a lot of apples still on trees that are going to be perishable,” Marsh said.
He said crops planted in low-lying areas may be at risk due to the forecasted amounts of rainfall.
“It could water them down or make them almost impossible to harvest,” Marsh said.  “Hopefully it won’t be too much of a disruption to the food system.”
Fiona caused historic flooding when it crossed Puerto Rico earlier this week, breaking roads and bridges.  It then struck the Dominican Republic and passed over the Turks and Caicos Islands as it strengthened into a Category 4 storm.
The forecast calls for the storm to pass near Bermuda early Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on September 22, 2022.