Canada braces for Fiona’s fury as hurricane looms

Fiona closed as a powerful post-tropical cyclone early Saturday, with heavy rain and strong winds hitting Atlantic Canada in what Canadian forecasters warned could be one of the worst storms in the country’s history.

After Fiona transitioned from a hurricane to a tropical storm late Friday, meteorologists warned it could still have hurricane-strength winds and bring downpours and swells.

More than 250,000 Nova Scotia Power customers — roughly half of all customers in the province — were affected by the outage just after 1 a.m. local time.

By the end of the hour, the total had risen by another 28,000.

The fast-moving Fiona is expected to make landfall in Nova Scotia before dawn Saturday, with its power down from Category 4 intensity as it passed Bermuda early Friday, although officials there reported no serious damage.

The Canadian Hurricane Centre has issued a hurricane warning for the coasts of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.

The National Hurricane Center said Fiona should reach the region as a “large, powerful post-tropical cyclone of hurricane strength.”

“It’s going to be dire,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who decided to postpone his trip to Japan for the funeral of the assassinated former prime minister, Shinzo Abe.

“We certainly hope there won’t be much need, but we think there might be,” Mr Trudeau said.

“Follow the directions of the local authorities and stay the course for the next 24 hours.”