Fiona, a Category 3 hurricane, lashed Bermuda with heavy rain and winds early Friday as it swept across the island on a track that is forecast to approach northeastern Canada in the late afternoon as another powerful storm. Authorities in Bermuda opened shelters and closed schools and offices ahead of Fiona. Premier David Bart sent out a tweet urging residents to “look after yourself and your family. Let’s all remember to check and look after your elderly, family and neighbours”. The Canadian Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane watch for extensive coastal areas of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. The US National Hurricane Center said Fiona should reach the region as a “large and powerful posttropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds”. “It’s going to be a storm everyone remembers when it’s all said and done,” said Bob Robichaud, preparedness warning meteorologist for the Canadian Hurricane Centre. Ian Hubbard, a meteorologist for the Canadian Hurricane Center in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, said the center of the storm is expected to arrive Saturday morning between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. locally, but winds and rain will arrive late Friday. The US center said Fiona had maximum sustained winds of 125 mph (205 km/h) late Thursday. It was centered about 125 miles (200 kilometers) north of Bermuda, moving north-northeast at 25 mph (41 km/h). Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 115 miles (185 km) from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 275 miles (445 km). A hurricane warning was in effect for Nova Scotia from Hubbards to Brule. Prince Edward Island? Isle-de-la-Madeleine; and Newfoundland from Lake Parson to Francois. Fiona has so far been blamed for at least five deaths — two in Puerto Rico, two in the Dominican Republic and one on the French island of Guadeloupe. Hurricanes in Canada are somewhat rare, in part because when storms reach cooler waters, they lose their main source of energy. and become extratropical. But these cyclones can still have hurricane-force winds, albeit with a cold instead of a warm core and no visible eye. Their shape can also be different. They lose their symmetrical form and can look more like a comma. Robichaud told a news conference that modeling predicted “year-round” low pressure across the region, bringing storms and 10 to 20 centimeters (4 to 8 inches) of rain. Amanda McDougall, mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, said officials were preparing a shelter for people to enter before the storm arrived. “We’ve been through these kinds of events in the past, but my fear is not to this extent,” he said. “The effects will be big, real and immediate.” Dave Pickles, CEO of Nova Scotia Power, said he expects widespread power outages. Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Center said a tropical depression in the southern Caribbean is expected to hit Cuba early Tuesday as a hurricane and then hit southern Florida early Wednesday. It was located about 615 miles (985 km) east-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica. It had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 km/h) and was moving at 13 mph (20 km/h). Before reaching Bermuda, Fiona caused severe flooding and damage in Puerto Rico, prompting US President Joe Biden to say on Thursday that the full force of the federal government was ready to help the US territory recover. Speaking at a briefing with Federal Emergency Management Agency officials in New York, Biden said, “We’re all in this together.” Biden noted that hundreds of FEMA and other federal officials are already in Puerto Rico, where Fiona caused blackouts across the island. More than 60 percent of electricity customers remained without power Thursday and a third of customers were without water, and local officials said they could not say when service would be fully restored. As of Friday, hundreds of people in Puerto Rico remained stranded by blocked roads five days after the hurricane hit the island. Frustration was mounting for people like Nancy Galarza, who tried to signal for help from crews she spotted from afar. “Everybody’s going there,” he said, pointing to crews at the bottom of the mountain helping others cut off from the storm. “Nobody comes here to see us. I’m worried about all the seniors in this community.” At least five landslides covered the narrow road to her community in the steep mountains around the northern city of Caguas. The only way to reach the settlement was to climb over thick piles of mud, rocks and debris left by Fiona, whose waters shook the foundations of nearby houses with earthquake-like force. At least eight of the 11 communities in Caguas were completely isolated, said Luis Gonzalez, municipal recovery and reconstruction inspector. It was one of at least six municipalities where crews had not yet arrived in some areas. People there often depend on help from neighbors, as they did after Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm in 2017 that killed nearly 3,000 people. Danciel Rivera arrived in the province of Caguas with a church group and tried to bring some cheer dressed as a clown. “This is very important in these times,” he said, noting that people had never fully recovered from Hurricane Maria. The clown’s huge shoes crunched in the mud as he greeted people, whose faces lit up as they smiled at him. —— Associated Press writers Zeke Miller in Washington, Seth Borenstein in New York, Rob Gillies in Toronto and Maricarmen Rivera Sanchez in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed
As Hurricane Fiona approaches as a category 4 on Friday, I encourage everyone to prepare properly for this storm and stay out of the water. Take care of yourself and your family. Let’s all remember to check and look out for your elderly, family and neighbours. Stay safe 🇧🇲! pic.twitter.com/s2te8fTIxH — Premier David Burt (@BermudaPremier) September 22, 2022
