The powerful storm Fiona hit the Atlantic coast of Canada this Saturday (24), leaving more than 500,000 homes without electricity and causing heavy rains and strong winds.

Although no longer a hurricane, Fiona still had winds of 137 kilometers per hour, having made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane this morning after hitting the Caribbean, meteorologists said.

The operator Nova Scotia Power, which supplies the province of Nova Scotia, impacted by Fiona, reported more than 400,000 customers without electricity around 10:50 a.m. (Brasilia time).

In the other two hardest-hit provinces, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, operators reported 82,000 and 44,000 homes without power, respectively.

In its last bulletin at 8:45 a.m. (Brasilia time), the Canadian Hurricane Center (CHC) mentions winds of more than 130 km/h in Nova Scotia and notes that Fiona is moving at a speed of 55 km/h in the north. – direction northeast.

“Big waves are hitting the east coast of Nova Scotia and southwest Terra Nova; they could exceed 12 meters,” he added.

At 10 a.m. (Brasilia time), the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC, its acronym in English) announced that the hurricane was over the Gulf of São Lourenço.

“We have never seen such weather conditions before,” tweeted police in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

“It’s unbelievable. There’s no electricity, there’s no Wirelesshas no network,” confirmed the mayor of the city, Philip Brown, in an interview with the public channel Radio-Canada.

“A lot of trees have fallen, there is a lot of flooding on the roads,” he added.

Nova Scotia officials have issued an emergency alert, warning of possible power outages and advising people to stay home with enough supplies for at least 72 hours.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the storm could “have a significant impact on the entire region” and urged everyone to “take appropriate precautions”.

In Halifax, Nova Scotia’s capital, residents bought propane cylinders for camping, depleting stores’ supplies.

“Nothing major” in Bermuda

On Friday (23), Fiona passed as a category 4 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson scale of up to 5) about 160 kilometers west of Bermuda, after leaving a trail of destruction in the Caribbean. With gusts of up to 160 km / h and torrential rains on this British territory of 64,000 inhabitants, Fiona left no casualties or serious damage.

According to the energy operator Belco, 15,000 of the 36,000 homes were without electricity yesterday afternoon. In many areas, the company adds, light was restored quickly.

Residents posted photos of downed power lines and some flooding on social media.

Fiona killed four people in Puerto Rico earlier this week, US media reported, while one death was reported in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe and two in the Dominican Republic.

In Puerto Rico, still trying to recover from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria five years ago, the US President Joe Biden, declared a state of emergency. In addition, FEMA, the US federal disaster management agency, plans to send hundreds more of its staff to the island, which has suffered from power outages, landslides and floods. .

In the Dominican Republic, President Luis Abinader has declared a state of natural disaster in three eastern provinces of the territory.