Hurricane Lee tracker: One dead in Maine after storm landfall leaves thousands without power – update

Post-tropical Cyclone Lee made landfall at near hurricane strength Saturday, bringing damaging winds, rough surf and torrential rain across New England and maritime Canada.

However, authorities withdrew some warnings for the region late Saturday evening.

The US National Hurricane Center has canceled its tropical storm warning for coastal Maine, while Environment Canada has ended its tropical storm warning for New Brunswick.

A tropical storm warning remained in effect for portions of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and the Magdalen Islands.

About 144,000 people were without power on Saturday after strong winds caused by Storm Lee knocked down trees. In neighboring New Brunswick, 37,000 people were without power.

“Crews have been able to restore power to some customers … but conditions are getting worse,” Matt Drover of the Nova Scotia power utility told Reuters.

“In many cases, particularly with winds exceeding 50 mph, it is not safe for our crews.”

In a social media post, Nova Scotia police said they had received reports of drivers heading to the coast to watch the waves, which they said were dangerous.

Heavy rain is expected in Canada’s Prince Edward Island province through Sunday, forecasters said.

Storm Lee made landfall in far western Nova Scotia with winds of 70 miles per hour, killing one person and leaving thousands without power.

Lee is on track to turn northeast and continue Saturday night into Sunday, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Hurricane Lee made landfall in western Nova Scotia on Saturday as millions across New England and Canada braced for its devastation.

According to the National Hurricane Center, maximum sustained winds were 70 mph when the storm made landfall about 50 miles from Eastport, Maine and about 135 miles from Halifax, Nova Scotia at 4 p.m.

A teenager drowned in the rough waters of the Atlantic on Wednesday, authorities in Florida said.

The 15-year-old was with two other people when he fell from a raft, Fernandina Beach police told Fox Weather.

The other two were returned to shore and taken to a local medical center while authorities searched for the missing teenager.

The group had ventured into the sea ahead of Storm Lee’s landfall, despite repeated warnings about the rough waters.

Officials said Billy Bob Faulkingham, the Republican leader of the Maine Legislature in the House of Representatives, and another lobsterman survived after their boat overturned while they were hauling traps ahead of the storm.

The boat’s distress signal alerted authorities and the two clung to the hull until help arrived, Winter Harbor Police Chief Danny Mitchell said. The 42-foot-long boat sank. “You are very lucky to be alive,” Mr Mitchell said.

Meteorologists urged residents to stay home, but many ventured out anyway.

Betsy Follansbee and her husband Fred jogged to Higgins Beach in Scarborough, Maine, to watch surfers – some wearing helmets – paddling out to catch waves as high as 12 feet.

They were the biggest waves Follansbee had seen in the 10 years she had lived there, she said. “We are impressed that they are brave enough to try it,” Ms. Follansbee said.

When it comes to hurricanes, New England can’t compete with Florida or the Caribbean.

But scientists said Friday that arrivals of storms like Hurricane Lee could become more common in the region this weekend as the planet warms, including in places like the Gulf of Maine.

A recent study found that climate change could cause hurricanes to extend their reach more frequently to mid-latitude regions that include New York, Boston and even Beijing.

According to the study, factors include warmer sea surface temperatures in these regions and the shifting and weakening of jet streams, the strong bands of air currents that orbit the planet in both hemispheres.

Thousands of people were left without power as Storm Lee made landfall in Nova Scotia, flooding roads and causing fear in a region still reeling from wildfires and severe flooding this summer.

The province’s largest airport, Halifax Stanfield International, has canceled all flights.

“People are exhausted. … It’s so much in such a short time,” said Halifax city councilor Pam Lovelace.

The storm was so large that it caused power outages several hundred miles from its center. As of midday Saturday, 11 percent of electricity customers in Maine were without power, as were 27 percent in Nova Scotia, 8 percent in New Brunswick and 3 percent on Prince Edward Island.

Hurricane-force winds extended up to 140 miles from Lee’s center, while tropical-storm-force winds extended up to 320 miles – enough to cover all of Maine and much of Maritime Canada.

A 51-year-old driver in Searsport, Maine, died after a large tree branch fell on his vehicle amid high winds on U.S. Highway 1 on Saturday, the first death attributed to the storm.

A tree branch brought down live lines and utility workers had to shut off the power before the man could be removed, Police Chief Brian Lunt said. The unidentified man later died at a hospital, he said.