Canada has had it worse as the previously warned powerful storm Fiona had knocked out the electricity grid up to more than 500,000 homes on Saturday as it caused some serious mayhem in east Canada with some strong winds and heavy rains in conditions that the police had revealed that were “like nothing we’ve ever seen.”
Though they had been downgraded from a hurricane, Fiona had still packed winds of 85 miles (137 kilometers) per hour as it had also barreled ashore in the early hours after battering the Caribbean, according to meteorologists.
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In the province of Novia Scotia, more than 400,000 households had also been reported to be going without electricity as the Novia Scotia Power reported.
In neighboring Price Edward Island, some 82,000 households had also lost power, with police in the provincial capital Charlottetown posting images of tangles of some of the downed power lines and roofs punctured by felled trees.
“Conditions are like nothing we’ve ever seen,” police tweeted.
“It’s incredible, there is no electricity, no wi-fi, no more network,” said Charlottetown mayor Philip Brown on Radio-Canada TV.
“It’s stronger than Hurricane Juan in 2003. A lot of trees have fallen, there is a lot of flooding on the roads.”
Canada had issued severe weather warnings for swathes of its eastern coast.
“Significant impacts from high winds, storm surge, and heavy rainfall are expected,” the US National Hurricane Center said in an advisory.
The Canadian Hurricane Center (CHC) said high-speed winds had been reported in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Iles-de-la-Madeleine and Newfoundland and that the storm would steam northeast, causing “damaging wind, waves, and storm surge.”
Rainfall of up to 4.9 inches (125 millimeters) was recorded in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, the CHC said, with large waves hitting Nova Scotia and western Newfoundland of up to 40 feet (12 meters).
The CHC had also assured that some of the conditions would improve in western Nova Scotia and eastern New Brunswick on Saturday.