Tropical Cyclone Lee brings high winds, power outages after making landfall in Canada

Tropical Cyclone Lee made landfall in Nova Scotia, Canada, and Maine Saturday afternoon, bringing high winds with gusts up to 70 mph and leaving more than 95,000 without power. 

The storm made landfall in Canada with near-hurricane strength and was expected to weaken as it moved toward New Brunswick, forecasters said. 

The Associated Press reported that Lee flooded coastal roads in Nova Scotia, took ferries out of service and knocked down power lines and trees. In Maine, it’s reported that nearly 96,000 customers are without power. 

“People are exhausted … it’s so much in such a small time period,” said Pam Lovelace, a council member in Halifax. 

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said this morning coastal flooding and heavy rains were “already occurring in portions of New England and Atlantic Canada.” Tropical storm watches and warnings were issued for many communities in the Northeast, stretching 230 miles along the coast. 

The storm, first forecasted to be a hurricane, was downgraded to a tropical cyclone early Saturday morning. Areas across the northeast have experienced extreme weather all week.

Lee’s storm center was 135 miles south of Nova Scotia and about 50 miles south of Maine, NHC said in a recent advisory. Wind speeds reached 70 mph. Winds are considered hurricane-strength when they reach 74 mph. Winds stretched as far as 140 miles from the storm’s center.