STORM DORIAN HAS made landfall in Canada, hitting the city of Halifax in Nova Scotia first and leaving more than 450,000 homes without power.
Dorian was first felt by the Bahamas earlier this week when it landed as a category 5 hurricane, claiming the lives of more than 40 people and leaving thousands more without a home.
It tracked north along the US east coast as it weakened, but last night reached Canada as a post-tropical cyclone, bringing winds of around 155km/hr, torrential rain and toppling trees.
The storm churned up 65ft waves along the coast of the port city of Halifax, home to Canada’s Atlantic fleet.
As it moved north the storm was being called a “very intense post-tropical cyclone,” but the Canadian Hurricane Centre warned that it was still packing winds equivalent to those of a Category 2 hurricane.
“We’re talking about a very dangerous storm,” Bob Robichaud of the Canadian Hurricane Centre told a briefing.
Officials also said it had already dropped more than four inches of rain on Nova Scotia, which could double by Sunday morning.
Storm surges were causing widespread flooding. And more than 450,000 households were without electricity after winds knocked down power lines.
Reports show a crane collapsed onto an apartment building under construction in downtown Halifax.
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Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said federal assistance was being provided.
The military was mobilized to deliver aid and help with evacuations, while roads and bridges in the region were closed.
Overnight, Dorian was expected to track northeast through the Maritimes region with “destructive winds and heavy rainfall,” the Canadian Hurricane Centre said, passing near eastern Prince Edward Island around midnight, and then over the eastern Gulf of St. Lawrence waters and western Newfoundland by Sunday morning.
With reporting from - © AFP 2019
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