MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fiona causes havoc in Canada

The storm had left 8 dead and several injured in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic

Hurricane Fiona has left unprecedented damage after making landfall throughout five provinces in eastern Canada, it was reported.

Power was cut in several areas and various trees were downed by the natural phenomenon, after which the Armed Forces have been summoned for assistance.

Fiona could be one of the costliest disasters Canada has ever faced, authorities also said, as global warming is reportedly making hurricanes wetter, windier, and more intense.

Some cities were evacuated and a 73-year-old woman went missing, although no fatalities were reported in Newfoundland. “The woman was last seen inside her residence moments before a wave struck the house, ripping out a portion of the basement. She has not been seen since,” police explained in a statement.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) explained that the center of post-tropical cyclone Fiona was crossing eastern Nova Scotia and approaching northeast of Halifax in the early hours of Sunday, where some 415,000 Nova Scotia residents were affected by power outages, as were over 82,000 customers in the province of Prince Edward Island and 44,000 others in New Brunswick. The storm reportedly carried maximum winds of 150 km/h.

Experts predicted strong winds and rain from Fiona, along with high tides, and forecast a gradual weakening over the next few days. In this scenario, authorities opened evacuation centers in Halifax, Nova Scotia's largest city, with over 800 workers in full rescue mode.

Hurricanes in Canada are relatively rare, and the storms usually lose their main source of power as they hit colder waters to the north. However, Canada's east coast did record such storms years ago, including Hurricane Juan in 2003. Before making landfall in Canada, Fiona passed hard over Bermuda Friday as a Category 4 hurricane. The storm later weakened to a Category 3 as it moved toward Canada. No fatalities were reported in Bermuda.

Instead, the storm's force previously caused widespread destruction in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, leaving a total of eight dead and several injured.