Hurricane Fiona: Canada braces for what could be one of worst storms in history
- The storm, which pounded Bermuda with heavy rains and winds, is expected to transform into a massive post-tropical cyclone
- Fiona so far has been blamed for at least 5 deaths – 2 in Puerto Rico, 2 in the Dominican Republic and 1 in the French island of Guadeloupe
A hurricane that is expected to transform into a massive post-tropical storm will bring hurricane-strength wind, heavy rain and large waves to Atlantic Canada in what meteorologists said Friday has the potential to be one of the most severe storms in the country’s history.
Fiona is due to make landfall Saturday morning. The Canadian Hurricane Centre issued a hurricane watch over extensive coastal expanses of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. The US National Hurricane Centre said Fiona should reach the area as a “large and powerful post-tropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds”.
“Where it fits in the history books we will have to make that determination after the fact, but it is certainly going to be a historic, extreme event for Eastern Canada,” said Bob Robichaud, Warning Preparedness Meteorologist for the Canadian Hurricane Centre.
Fiona, currently a category 4, pounded Bermuda with heavy rains and winds on Friday as it swept by the island on a route forecast to have it approaching northeastern Canada. Authorities in Bermuda opened shelters and closed schools and offices ahead of Fiona. Michael Weeks, the national security minister, said there had been no reports of major damage.
Robichaud said the centre of the storm is expected to arrive in Nova Scotia on Saturday morning sometime at just before 9am locally, but winds and rains will arrive late Friday.