Lee set to weaken after bringing fierce winds and coastal flooding to Canada and northeast US
Post-tropical cyclone Lee is forecast to gradually weaken over the next couple days before moving out into the Atlantic Ocean away from Canada, as officials in Florida announce at least one death due to the storm.
Lee, once a powerful hurricane, is churning maximum sustained winds of 45 mph as it spreads north after making landfall Saturday on Long Island in Nova Scotia, the National Hurricane Center said in its final advisory for the storm Sunday.
The storm knocked out power to tens of thousands and lashed the coasts of the northeast US and Atlantic Canada with wind and waves. It is expected to move to the northeast over Newfoundland Sunday afternoon before moving over the Atlantic Monday.
At least one death has been attributed to the conditions spurred by Lee: Officials in Fernandina Beach, Florida, announced a 15-year-old had drowned in the surf “due to turbulent wave conditions as a result of Hurricane Lee.”
Tropical storm force winds still extend about 290 miles from what’s left of Lee’s core on Sunday, the hurricane center said.
In Canada, about 50,000 customers were without power Sunday in Nova Scotia, while 8,000 in New Brunswick were in the dark, according to an outage maps by provincial utilities.
In Maine – where winds of 83 mph were recorded in Perry, and 63 mph in Roque Bluffs – more than 20,000 homes and businesses were without power, according to PowerOutage.us. Outages there peaked Saturday with more than 90,000 customers in the dark, and photos from across the state showed toppled trees near homes and on roadways as powerful winds battered the area.
Another inch of rain is expected over parts of eastern New Brunswick, according to the hurricane center. Officials there had cautioned residents to prepare for power outages and stock up on food and medication for at least 72 hours as they encouraged people to stay indoors during what they forecast would likely turn into a storm surge for coastal communities.
“Once the storm starts, remember please stay at home if at all possible,” Kyle Leavitt, director of New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization, said Friday ahead of the storm. “Nothing good can come from checking out the big waves and how strong the wind truly is.”
In the US, states of emergency were declared ahead of the storm in Maine and Massachusetts. President Joe Biden has authorized the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to step in to coordinate disaster relief and assistance for required emergency measures.
Boston’s Logan International Airport saw a spike in flight cancellations Saturday with 23% of all flights into Boston and 24% of flights originating out of the city canceled, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.