Hurricane Lee makes landfall | The Independent | EUROtoday

Hurricane Lee made landfall in Western Novia Scotia on Saturday, as hundreds of thousands in New England and Canada have been making ready for its devastation.

Maximum sustained winds had been at 70mph, as of 4pm when the storm reached land about 50 miles from Eastport, Maine and about 135 miles from Halifax, Nova Scotia, based on the National Hurricane Center.

Since Saturday morning, hurricane-force winds, heavy rains, and coastal flooding have affected areas alongside the East Coast. The National Hurricane Center mentioned at 8am on Saturday that the utmost sustained winds reached 80mph.

“Lee is expected to be at or just below hurricane strength when it reaches Nova Scotia later today,” the NHC wrote, including that the storm is predicted to weaken into tonight and Sunday whereas Lee strikes throughout the border.

Earlier on Saturday, the storm had been downgraded from a hurricane to a post-tropical cyclone.

Both Maine and Massachusetts issued states of emergency on Friday. This was the primary hurricane watch that Maine issued in 15 years.

Hundreds of 1000’s have been coping with no energy. As of Friday, 30,000 in Maine and 130,000 in Nova Scotia had been experiencing energy outages. Given Maine’s heavy forestation, downed bushes might additionally contribute to extra outages — and injury to buildings.

At 8am on Saturday, the National Hurricane Center predicted that rains would result in some flooding. “Through tonight, Lee is expected to produce rainfall amounts of 1 to 4 inches over far eastern Massachusetts, eastern Maine, western Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. This may produce localized urban and small stream flooding.”

On high of this, a storm surge and tide “will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline,” the hurricane heart warned.