- Saudi crown prince says no Israel ties without Palestinian state
- Canada to further cut international student, foreign worker permits
- YouTube launches new TV-focused tools for creators
- White Sox heading for worst season in MLB history
- China the top challenge in US history: senior diplomat
- Hong Kong democracy tycoon's son warns time running out
- New migraine drugs no better than cheap painkillers: big study
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs again denied bail in sex trafficking case
- Brewers clinch division title as MLB playoff race heats up
- Man City blunted by 'giant' Inter in Champions League stalemate
- US stocks dip despite larger Fed interest rate cut
- Man City held by Inter as PSG pinch win in Champions League
- All Blacks recall Beauden Barrett for Australia Test
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 20, wound 450
- Spurs late show saves Postecoglou blushes at Coventry
- PSG snatch late goal to beat Champions League debutants Girona
- Gittens' late double gives Dortmund Champions League win at Brugge
- Man City blunted by Inter in Champions League stalemate
- Hidden talent: French Olympic star Marchand opts for disguise
- MrBeast named in California lawsuit over 'Beast Games' show
- Gauff splits with Gilbert as coach after 14-month run
- Hundreds of thousands at risk in Sudan's El-Fasher: UN
- Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge
- Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced
- Ukraine official claims Russian advance in Kursk has been 'stopped'
- X update allows app to bypass Brazil ban: internet providers
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 14, wound 450
- US Fed makes aggressive rate cut, weeks before election
- Arsenal's Odegaard faces lengthy injury absence
- India coal expansion risks massive methane growth: report
- China the top challenge in US history, top diplomat says
- US Fed makes larger half-point cut in first reduction since 2020
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr appoint former AC Milan boss Pioli
- Ainslie 'relieved' as British book place in Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Struggling Roma replace sacked icon De Rossi with Ivan Juric
- Women's NBA will add 15th team in Portland in 2026
- Brazil fires need harsher punishment: environmental police boss
- Boeing to start large temporary furloughs amid Seattle strike
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill nine, wound 300
- 'Emergency' declared over falling UK butterfly numbers
- McIlroy outlines threats to golf peace deal
- Stock markets, dollar slip before US rate decision
- Russian advance in Kursk 'stopped': Ukraine official to AFP
- UN members demand end to 'unlawful' Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
- Snapchat pushes 'safer' platform image, but not everyone agrees
- Three dead, 100 wounded in new wave of Lebanon device explosions
- So where does the oceans' plastic waste come from?
- Allied war heroes buried in Netherlands... 80 years on
- Marsh coy over Australia's choice to open alongside Head
- New London sculpture pays tribute to trans community
JRI | 0.45% | 13.44 | $ | |
BCE | 3.09% | 35.61 | $ | |
BCC | 1.33% | 137.06 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.12% | 24.98 | $ | |
NGG | -0.46% | 70.05 | $ | |
SCS | 0.71% | 14.11 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.02% | 25.055 | $ | |
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
GSK | -0.31% | 42.43 | $ | |
BTI | -0.34% | 37.88 | $ | |
RIO | -0.02% | 62.91 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.37% | 6.55 | $ | |
AZN | 0.06% | 78.58 | $ | |
RELX | -0.82% | 47.37 | $ | |
BP | -0.37% | 32.43 | $ | |
VOD | 0.49% | 10.23 | $ |
Storm Fiona slams into east Canada, leaving 'total devastation'
Powerful storm Fiona lashed into eastern Canada on Saturday, cutting power to thousands and washing houses into the sea as it pummeled the area with fierce winds and rains "like nothing we've ever seen," police said.
Two women were swept into the ocean in Newfoundland, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police reported. One was rescued, but the other is still missing.
Mayor Brian Button of Channel-Port aux Basques, at the southwestern tip of Newfoundland, told CBC News that the scene there was one of "total devastation," adding, "this has become bigger, and worse, than we had imagined."
Rene Roy, a newspaper editor in Channel-Port aux Basques, said, "These are the strongest winds anyone in the community has ever seen. Several houses have been washed into the sea."
As of midday, some 500,000 homes were left without power across the region as the storm pummeled a wide area, felling countless trees and ripping roofs from buildings.
"The power lines are down everywhere," Erica Fleck, assistant chief of Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency, told CBC. "It's not safe to be on the roads."
Although downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, Fiona still packed hurricane-force winds of 80 miles (130 kilometers) per hour as it barreled into Canada after earlier battering the Caribbean, according to meteorologists.
- Nova Scotia hard hit -
The storm first made landfall in Nova Scotia province around 3:00 am (0600 GMT), according to the Canadian Hurricane Center (CHC).
In Nova Scotia, 384,000 households were without electricity by midday Saturday, Nova Scotia Power reported, while New Brunswick reported 32,000 and Prince Edward Island some 82,000.
"Trees have come down on homes, trees have come down on cars, there's buildings that have collapsed," Fire Chief Lloyd MacIntosh in the Nova Scotia town of North Sydney told CBC.
Police in Charlottetown, the capital of Prince Edward Island, posted images of tangles of downed power lines and roofs punctured by felled trees.
"It's incredible," said Charlottetown mayor Philip Brown on Radio-Canada TV. "It's stronger than Hurricane Juan in 2003."
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said in a statement that "it will take time for Nova Scotia to recover. I just ask everyone for their patience."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted: "I want you to know that we're here for you... Our government stands ready to support the provinces with additional resources."
Canada had issued severe weather warnings for swaths of its eastern coast, advising people to lay in supplies for at least 72 hours.
Rainfall of up to 4.9 inches (125 millimeters) was recorded in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, the CHC said, with waves of up to 40 feet (12 meters) hitting Nova Scotia and western Newfoundland.
The CHC said conditions would improve in western Nova Scotia and eastern New Brunswick later Saturday and over southwestern Newfoundland and Iles-de-la-Madeleine late Saturday night.
- Puerto Rico struggling -
Fiona had skirted Bermuda a day earlier, with residents battening down and authorities calling for people to remain inside as strong winds raked over the British territory. No fatalities or major damage were reported as the storm passed roughly 100 miles to the west of the island.
Bermuda, whose economy is fueled by international finance and tourism, is wealthy compared with most Caribbean countries, and structures must be built to strict planning codes to withstand storms. Some have done so for centuries.
Fiona killed at least four people in Puerto Rico earlier this week, according to US media, while two deaths were reported in the Dominican Republic and one in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe.
President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Puerto Rico, a US territory that is still struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria five years ago.
In the Dominican Republic, President Luis Abinader declared three eastern provinces to be disaster zones.
As the Caribbean licked its wounds from Fiona, Cuba, Jamaica and Florida were bracing Saturday for the arrival of tropical storm Ian, which is expected to gain power in coming days to reach "at or near major hurricane strength," the NHC said.
In anticipation of the storm, NASA called off the scheduled Tuesday launch of its historic uncrewed mission to the Moon.
burs-st-aha/sw/bgs/bbk/bfm
G.Schulte--BTB