HALIFAX (Nova Scotia,Canada), Sept 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Canada’s government authorised hundreds of troops to help clear trees after Storm Dorian tore through the Atlantic coast overnight, leaving almost half a million people in three provinces without power.
Dorian, classified as a strong post-tropical storm, hit Nova Scotia hard, leaving more than 370,000 people – a third of the population – without power. About 100,000 others in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island also had no electricity.
Though no longer a hurricane, the storm is still packing cyclone-strength winds reaching about 130 kph, the Canadian Hurricane Centre said.
“Dorian will slowly weaken as it moves northeastward across northern Newfoundland later today and east of Labrador tonight,” the centre said overnight.
“There is extensive damage,” Karen Hutt, chief executive office of Nova Scotia Power Inc, said in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. “This storm was intense” and it will be “days not hours” before power is restored to everyone.
The storm blew over a large construction crane in downtown Halifax, the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, on Saturday. No serious injuries have been reported.
Dorian ripped into the Bahamas a week ago with Category 5 winds and some gusts topping 320 kph (200 mph), leaving a trail of destruction and death, with 43 confirmed dead and the number expected to rise.
Separately, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it had issued a temporary flight restriction for Bahamian airspace.
“At the request of the Bahamian Government, the FAA has issued a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) for U.S. aircraft and pilots entering Bahamian airspace in Hurricane Dorian affected areas in order to reserve airspace for search and rescue and humanitarian assistance”, the FAA said in a statement.
