Arthur hit Canada’s coastal provinces Saturday with near-hurricane strength winds and pouring rains, knocking down trees and leaving more than 200,000 customers without power.
Canadian Hurricane Centre spokesman Chris Fogarty said that Arthur was downgraded from a hurricane to a post-tropical storm Saturday morning by the time it reached Atlantic Canada after swiping a day earlier at North Carolina’s Outer Banks, but it still caused some damages. Environment Canada measured wind gusts topping 72 mph (116 kph) in Halifax, while more than 4 inches (11 centimeters) of rain had already fallen on parts of southwestern New Brunswick.
Late Saturday morning, Nova Scotia Power said 113,000 of its customers were without power. The utility in New Brunswick reported almost 100,000 outages by mid-afternoon. It warned some residents they could be without power for up to 48 hours because of widespread damage caused by the storm. Police in Saint John, New Brunswick, said some local roads were closed because they were covered by flood water.
The storm also caused flight cancellations and delays at the region’s largest airport in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Prince Edward Island said a number of electrical poles had been knocked down by the storm and roads were blocked by downed trees.
The Canadian Hurricane Center said the storm would end in the Maritimes overnight and then track northeast through the Gulf of St. Lawrence toward Newfoundland on Sunday.
In the United States, North Carolina’s popular beach towns began returning to the business of recreation Saturday, after Arthur struck the state’s coast with forceful winds and heavy rain and then went northward without leaving a trail of significant damage.
New England was largely spared from damage caused by the storm, but some 19,000 people in Maine and 1,600 in Vermont were without power after high winds and heavy rains pounded the region. There were reports of regional flooding in coastal areas of Massachusetts and the Nova Star Ferry delayed service Friday and Saturday morning because of dangerous seas. No injuries or deaths have been reported.
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