Dangerous' storm heads to eastern Canada

Last Updated: Saturday, November 3, 2007 | 9:53 AM ET

CBC

People in Atlantic Canada are expecting heavy rain, strong winds and possible electrical outages as the remnants of Hurricane Noel hit the region this weekend.

The storm is heading north after cutting a swath through the Caribbean, where it left more than 100 people dead and caused tens of millions of dollars in damage.

"Basically, we're looking for it to reach the coast of Nova Scotia late Saturday evening," said Peter Bowyer, program manager of the Canadian Hurricane Centre in Darmouth.

"The winds and the rain will start moving into Nova Scotia long before that in the southwestern Maritimes ... with conditions deteriorating throughout the day."

Bowyer said Noel will not have the same impact as Hurricane Juan, which had winds of 165 km/hr when it made landfall in Nova Scotia, but people should still prepare for very strong winds.

"This is not at this point anything like Hurricane Juan, but it's still a dangerous storm that can bring damaging winds," he said.

"We do expect there to be some significant ocean wave action along the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, probably eight to 10 metres, meaning individual wave heights can be upwards of twice that."

Forecasters predict gusts of 120 km/hr inland and 140 km/hr along the coastlines of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island late Saturday from what is being called a post-tropical storm.

The system is expected to bring between 50 and 70 millimetres of rain to portions of western Nova Scotia and central New Brunswick.

People urged to prepare emergency kits

On Friday, the Nova Scotia Emergency Measures Organization was reminding people to stock up on supplies before the storm moves into the region.

People in the storm's path should have an emergency supply kit with batteries for flashlights, a transistor radio and enough food and water to allow them to remain self-sufficient for 72 hours, the organization said.

Nova Scotia Power said it has crews ready to be dispatched in case of outages.

"So we have put our crews on alert virtually in every county to cover every section of the province," said Margaret Murphy, a spokeswoman for the utility.

The Canadian Red Cross said it has 500 volunteers on standby.

The RCMP were urging people to avoid Nova Scotia's coastline. Peter Bowyer of the Hurricane Centre said the timing of the storm has eased worries somewhat about the risks of a storm surge.

"If there's anything positive to say,the storm is actually arriving at a very favourable point in the tidal cycle, so we're not overly concerned about the storm surge, except perhaps in the Northumberland Strait area," he said.

Air Canada has cancelled several flights leaving or coming into Halifax on Saturday. The airline is asking travellers to check ahead before going to Robert L. Stanfield International Airport in Halifax.

The storm will bring high winds and rain to Newfoundland and heavy snow for parts of Labrador by early Sunday, said meteorologist Chris Fogerty of the Canadian Hurricane Centre. A snowfall warning has been issued for the Churchill Falls area, where 20 centimetres of snow is expected.