General News

IN PHOTOS: Scenes of damage as Fiona makes landfall across eastern Canada

Published

2 years ago

September 24, 2022

IN PHOTOS: Scenes of damage as Fiona makes landfall across eastern Canada

Fiona transformed from a hurricane into a powerful post-tropical cyclone late Friday, damaging homes with strong winds and rain as it made landfall in eastern Canada on Saturday morning.

The storm toppled a number of trees across the region, with some falling into power lines, cars and houses. There have been multiple reports of blocked and washed-out roads as crews begin assessing damage in areas where the storm has already passed.

People work to drag a fallen tree limb from their street as post tropical storm Fiona causes widespread damage in Halifax on Saturday, September 24, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese.

Georgina Scott surveys the damage on her street in Halifax as post tropical storm Fiona continues to batter the Maritimes on Saturday, September 24, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese.

A fallen tree rests on a house early in the morning in Halifax on Saturday, September 24, 2022 as post tropical storm Fiona continues to batter the Maritimes. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese.

Arborists work to clear fallen trees and downed wires from damage caused by post tropical storm Fiona in Halifax on Saturday, September 24, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese.

Fiona has knocked out power to more than 500,000 customers in Atlantic Canada on Saturday.

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More than 415,000 Nova Scotia Power customers — about 80 per cent of the province’s almost 1 million residents — were affected by outages Saturday morning. Over 82,000 customers in the province of Prince Edward Island were also without power, while NB Power in New Brunswick reported 44,329 were without electricity.

The fast-moving Fiona arrived in Nova Scotia before dawn Saturday, leaving a trail of destruction in its path.

An arborist works to clear fallen trees and downed wires from damage caused by post tropical storm Fiona in Halifax on Saturday, September 24, 2022.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

An uprooted tree rests against a house in Dartmouth, N.S. on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022. Post-tropical storm Fiona hit Nova Scotia in the early hours, knocking out power and disrupting travel across the region. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan.

Ian Livingstone surveys the damage to his house from a fallen tree early in the morning in Halifax on Saturday, September 24, 2022 as post tropical storm Fiona continues to batter the Maritimes. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese.

The Canadian Hurricane Centre tweeted early Saturday that Fiona has the lowest pressure ever recorded for a storm making landfall in Canada. Forecasters had warned it could be one of the most powerful storms to hit the country.

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A state of local emergency has been declared by the mayor and council of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality amid widespread power outages, road closures and damage to homes.

READ MORE: ‘It’s not safe to travel’: Cape Breton getting hit hard by Fiona

“There are homes that have been significantly damaged due to downed trees, big old trees falling down and causing significant damage. We’re also seeing houses that have their roofs have completely torn off, windows breaking in. There is a huge amount of debris in the roadways,” Amanda McDougall, mayor of Cape Breton Regional Municipality, told The Associated Press.

“There is a lot of damage to belongings and structures but no injuries to people as of this point. Again we’re still in the midst of this,” she said. “It’s still terrifying. I’m just sitting here in my living room and it feels like the patio doors are going to break in with those big gusts. It’s loud and it is shocking.”

–With files from The Associated Press and Global News’ Alex Cooke