Damage from Hurricane Fiona in eastern Canada

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After causing two deaths in the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico and extensive damage in both the Dominican Republic and the Bermuda archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, Hurricane Fiona reached eastern Canada on Saturday: Although the storm was downgraded to a tropical storm, Fiona brought rain and heavy rain. Wind gusts of up to 160 kilometers per hour are particularly rare weather events in this part of the country. In Port aux Pasques, a town of 4,000 people in southwestern Newfoundland province, and in Labrador, east of the Gulf of San Lorenzo, several buildings along the coast were washed away by large waves from the storm.

The storm caused flooding, power outages and uprooted dozens of trees across five provinces, mainly along the coast: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, as well as parts of Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec. More than 500,000 people were without power on Saturday. A woman has also gone missing after being swept away by waves in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Journalist René Roy, editor of a local newspaper Wreckhouse PressSaid A BBC Effects of the passing of the storm at Port aux Basques I am “The scariest things I’ve ever seen.” Many houses have been reduced to “heaps of rubble in the sea” and entire streets have “disappeared”, Roy said. Local authorities have confirmed that at least 20 houses have been damaged by the storm.

It was reported in Port aux Basques Emergency, as well as on Cape Breton Island, east of Nova Scotia, opposite Newfoundland and Labrador. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the mobilization of the military to clear debris and fallen trees and restore road access in Nova Scotia. Trudeau also canceled a trip to the funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, scheduled for Tuesday, September 27, in Tokyo.

Here is the latest update #Fiona. Fiona will move northeast today, bringing damaging winds, waves and storm surge.https://t.co/InPO6wTJg2 pic.twitter.com/vfM9Jmqyqg

— ECCC Canadian Hurricane Center (@ECCC_CHC) September 24, 2022

Such extreme weather events are rare in this part of Canada: hurricanes or tropical storms gradually lose intensity as they encounter cooler water on their way north. The last two storms to cause damage and trouble in eastern Canada were Juan in 2003 and Dorian in 2019, which killed two people. However, it is possible in the future Frequency and intensity As a result of climate change, similar occurrences are increasing due to higher water temperatures.

– read more: The Arctic is warming faster than we thought