Nearly a third of Nova Scotia Power customers were without electricity Saturday afternoon
Post-tropical storm Lee officially has made landfall in Long Island, N.S., with maximum sustained winds around 110 km/h.
According to the National Hurricane Centre, Lee finally passed over Nova Scotia shortly after 4 p.m. AT after it spent Saturday afternoon skirting the coast near Yarmouth.
CBC meteorologist Ryan Snoddon says the storm will continue to move northward into the Bay of Fundy before making a second landfall in New Brunswick this evening.
As the storm passes into New Brunswick, other parts of the region will continue to feel its effects.
"The winds will pick up through this evening and continue [to gust] overnight in eastern areas like Cape Breton and P.E.I.," he said.
In western Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, meanwhile, the winds will begin to ease near the end of Saturday and overnight, Snoddon said.
It will also be important to keep an eye on possible storm surges along the coast, said Snoddon.
Thousands of homes across the Nova Scotia mainland and New Brunswick have been without power for hours, even as strong and gusty winds are expected to continue into the evening. At the height of outages Saturday, nearly a third of Nova Scotia Power customers were without electricity.
Lee transitioned from a Category 1 hurricane to a post-tropical storm early Saturday.
Top wind gusts of 117 km/h were recorded at the Halifax airport, while southwestern Nova Scotia saw gusts of 90-110km/h and between 30-60 millimetres of rainfall in that same area.
Nova Scotia RCMP are asking people to stay off the roads as water, downed trees and utility lines are creating hazards along the province's Atlantic coastline. Police say people who are driving out to watch the waves are putting themselves and first responders at risk.
In the Halifax Regional Municipality, Mayor Mike Savage said a number of roads are currently blocked, due to sea water and debris, washed-out culverts, downed trees and power lines.
Many homeless people living in encampments throughout the city have been moved to shelters established at St. Matthew's Church, Captain William Spry Community Centre and Beacon House in Lower Sackville, Savage said during a news conference on Saturday afternoon.
He's urging people to stay home and ride out the storm in safety.
"We've seen images of people near the waterfront, and it's unnecessary, and it's dangerous," the mayor said. "The worst of the storm hasn't hit us yet."
100,000+ without power in N.S.
As of 6 a.m. Sunday, more than 105,000 Nova Scotia Power customers were without power, with the highest concentration in the Halifax area, the province's South Shore, and the Annapolis Valley. There were more than 160,000 outages reported on Saturday.
In New Brunswick, meanwhile, N.B. Power's outage map lists nearly 12,000 customers without power Sunday morning.
In a release Saturday morning, Nova Scotia Power said the outages are the result of fallen trees and strong winds of up to 100 km/h in the western part of the province, and up to 90 km/h in downtown Halifax.
N.B. Power had a team of 700 on standby to help with electricity outages. Nova Scotia Power said Digby, Shelburne and Yarmouth were the biggest area of concern, so crews were sent there in advance of the storm.
Maritime Electric, which provides power for P.E.I., said it had more than 100 people on its team waiting to respond.
Yarmouth Mayor Pam Mood said her town was bracing for impact.
0 Comments