Fiona Hits Canada’s Atlantic Coast, State of Emergency Declared in Newfoundland Town

Hurricane Fiona is ripping through the Atlantic coast and is the first hurricane of the Atlantic Basin season. It first smacked into Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic earlier this week, killing at least five people and leaving more than a million others without power or running water. The post-tropical cyclone is now striking parts of Canada.

Hurricane Fiona has been downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, but still carries the wind speed of a Category One hurricane. Fiona slammed into the Gulf of St. Lawrence at around 2 p.m. on Saturday before it carried over to eastern Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. Coastal homes, cars, and other structures in Newfoundland and Labrador collapsed after being swallowed up by the cyclone’s waves.

The town of Channel-Port aux Basques was forced to declare a state of emergency after Hurricane Fiona touched down on the province of Newfoundland. Multiple homes were destroyed and drifted out to sea during the storm. Waves between 36 ft to 49 ft in height and winds between 62 mph and 87 mph were recorded at 8:47 a.m. on Saturday by Environment Canada.

For people living on the east coast of Nl here is a little look at port aux Bas. #nltraffic #nlwx @weathernetwork pic.twitter.com/GEg3CqMpn5

— Stan (@roper_reid) September 24, 2022

Brian Button, the mayor of Channel-Port aux Basques, declared a state of emergency for his town on Facebook*.

“We’re in the process here of calling a state of emergency, our town is in all intents and purposes we are already in a state of emergency here, it’s just going to formalities now. So anybody that’s being told to leave their homes you need to leave, there’s no ‘ifs’, ‘ands’, or ‘buts’, you need to leave. We have our crews out and we’ll soon won’t be able to have our crews out in some areas, it’s just becoming unsafe for our crews,” said Button, adding that the Lions Club and the Salvation Army were available to shelter those in need of it.

Power lines were also downed in Channel-Port aux Basques, some with live wires. Button added in his Facebook post that locals should stay in shelter because of the strong weather and the debris, including uprooted trees and poles with live wires, would be dangerous to come into contact with. Cape Breton also declared a state of emergency and ordered people to shelter in place.

The Royal Canadian Mountain Police (RCMP) also received a report of a woman who was washed into the ocean off the coast of Port aux Basques after her home collapsed. Thankfully, she was rescued and taken to a nearby hospital for medical care. She is reported to be in good condition, but one other person remains missing.

Hurricane Fiona ravaged Nova Scotia with heavy rains and winds blowing at over 85 mph on Friday, leaving 70% of the province as well as Prince Edward Island without power. Caribou, Maine also reported wind speeds of 52 mph according to the town’s U.S. National Weather Service office.

Several buildings in the coastal Newfoundland community of Burnt Islands were ripped apart by Fiona’s winds.

Trees and power lines down around Glace Bay. Some of the worst damage I’ve seen so far on Cape Breton. #Fionahurricane pic.twitter.com/T7sPDz0mLn

— Anthony Farnell (@AnthonyFarnell) September 24, 2022

At least 348,204 customers in Nova Scotia, 84,701 customers in Prince Edward Island, 42,268 customers in New Brunswick, 14,209 in Ontario, and 8,906 customers in Newfoundland and Labrador reported power outages at around 4:50 p.m. according to PowerOutage.com.

*Facebook is a company banned in Russia