1 of 3 | Hundreds of thousands of people are without power in Atlantic Canada while parts of Massachusetts and Maine were hit with coastal flooding and strong winds as Lee moved closer to landfall on Saturday. Photo courtesy of Nova Scotia Power
Sept. 16 (UPI) — Post-Tropical Storm Lee made landfall in Nova Scotia on Saturday afternoon with near-hurricane-force winds.
The core of the storm moved across Long Island in Western Nova Scotia just before 5 p.m., according to an evening update from the National Hurricane Center.
The storm is expected to continue its eastward movement across the Canadian Maritimes.
“Strong wind shear, dry air, and land interaction should cause steady weakening during the next day or so,” the NHC stated. “The global models are in agreement that Lee should dissipate on Monday.”
Rain bands are spreading across Maine, bringing tropical storm conditions and coastal flooding to certain areas.
The tropical storm warning has been discontinued south of Stonington, Maine, as of 8 p.m. Saturday, but remains in effect for various regions including New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and the Magdalen Islands.
A 50-year-old man in Maine lost his life when his car was struck by a tree due to Lee’s winds, according to police in the town of Searsport.
Earlier on Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people in Atlantic Canada were without power.
As of 9 p.m. Saturday, over 117,600 customers in Nova Scotia were without power due to the storm, with an additional 35,000 customers in neighboring New Brunswick also experiencing power outages.
Nova Scotia Power intentionally turned off electricity to around 6,000 customers in order to begin repairing damaged power poles.
Lee was downgraded from a hurricane to a post-tropical storm, but it still retains Category 1 conditions in its center, with sustained wind speeds of around 80 mph.
Forecasters have warned of dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents along the U.S. East Coast, Atlantic Canada, Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern Leeward Islands throughout the weekend.
