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Post-tropical storm Fiona causes devastation in Atlantic Canada
Post-tropical storm Fiona has caused lot of destruction in Atlantic Canada as it made landfall Saturday morning, bringing heavy rain, powerful winds and vicious storm surge that washed away several buildings in a small coastal community. According to reports at least two people have been swept into the ocean.
According to Newfoundland RCMP spokesperson Jolene Garland, one woman was rescued by bystanders after she was tossed into the ocean, while the other is still missing. Both incidents happened in Port aux Basques, a town of roughly 4,000 people on the southwestern tip off Newfoundland that appeared to have suffered the worst damage from the storm.
Ms. Garland said, “We’re not sure how things will go as the storm continues. We realize the tide is going to come around this afternoon so we’re not sure if we’re going to be repeating what happened this morning.”
Port aux Basque has issued an evacuation alert, which Mayor Brian Button implored people to heed. Mayor said, “I’m going to be pretty direct here with people. Anybody that’s been told to leave their homes, you need to to leave, there’s no ifs ands or buts... It’s just becoming unsafe for our crews.”
The storm was forecasted to bring in 100 to 200 millimetres of rain across much of Atlantic Canada and eventually eastern Quebec. The Canadian Hurricane Centre said it recorded an unofficial pressure of 931.6 millibars this morning, which made it the lowest pressure for a landfalling storm on record in Canada and spoke to the severity of the weather.