500,000 homes without electricity, rush on gas cylinders… the “historic” hurricane Fiona makes landfall in Canada

After sowing death and destruction on its way through the Caribbean, Hurricane Fiona made landfall early this Saturday morning on the Atlantic coast of Canada, where weather services were preparing for a "historic" storm.

According to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), Fiona made landfall early this Saturday in the province of Nova Scotia (eastern Canada) with winds above 144 km / h.

At 9 a.m. GMT, the hurricane was located about 210 km from Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, and was moving north/northwest at a speed of 65 km/h, according to the Canadian Weather Forecast Center. hurricanes (CCPO).

“An extreme historical event”

“Fiona is expected to affect parts of Atlantic Canada today as a powerful hurricane-strength cyclone and significant impacts are expected due to high winds, storm surge and heavy rains,” the report added. NHC.

Canada has issued several weather warnings for most of its eastern coasts.

The CHC had previously estimated that the hurricane "should be a severe weather event for Atlantic Canada and Eastern Quebec".

Fiona is expected to become "a very intense post-tropical storm" after making landfall, producing "very heavy rain and high winds" as well as "big waves".

“It will certainly be a historic and extreme event for Eastern Canada,” Bob Robichaud, CHC meteorologist, said Friday at a press conference, calling Fiona a “major” hurricane.

Authorities in the province of Nova Scotia have issued a power outage alert, asking everyone to stay indoors and have enough supplies for at least 72 hours.

More than 500,000 homes were without electricity on the Atlantic coast of Canada, according to the cumulative figures provided by several operators.

In the province of Nova Scotia alone, the operator Nova Scotia Power announced, for example, around 1:05 p.m. GMT that there were 414,163 customers without electricity.

Shortage of gas refills

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked everyone to "take the right precautions".

In Halifax, stores ran out of propane gas refills for camping as locals rushed to stock up.

In the neighboring province of Prince Edward Island, residents have also prepared for the arrival of the hurricane.

The government has advised residents to stock up.

REUTERS/John Morris JOHN MORRIS

"We'd be lying if we said we're not worried about Fiona," Lisa Gale, owner of a waterfront restaurant in Charlottetown, told CTV.

Damage in the Caribbean

Fiona had passed Friday, in category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale which has 4, some 160 km off Bermuda, after having sown destruction in the Caribbean.

The hurricane inflicted gusts of 160 km / h and heavy rains on this British territory of some 64,000 inhabitants located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean but without any casualties or major damage being reported.

According to electricity supplier Belco, 15,000 of 36,000 homes were without power Friday afternoon in Bermuda but power was quickly restored in many areas.

“We had some small damage to our premises, but nothing serious,” said Jason Rainer, owner of a souvenir shop in the capital Hamilton, pointing out that a few doors and windows had been torn off.

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The territory, located a thousand kilometers from the United States and accustomed to hurricanes, is one of the most isolated places in the world, which makes any evacuation almost impossible in the event of an emergency.

The main island had therefore taken the preparations seriously.

Buildings and houses must also comply with strict construction rules to withstand storms.

Fiona caused the deaths of four people in Puerto Rico, a US territory, according to an official quoted by the media.

One death was reported in Guadeloupe (France) and two in the Dominican Republic.