Washington [US], September 17: In the early morning of September 17 (Vietnam time), Storm Lee landed in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, bringing winds of 110 km/h and knocking down trees, causing power outages in many places.
Reuters cited the latest update from the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) showing that storm Lee had made landfall on Long Island, a small island southwest of Canada's Halifax, bringing winds of 110 km/h.
In the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, about 144,000 people lost power because of a series of fallen trees. In the neighboring province of New Brunswick, 37,000 people lost power.
"Electricity has been restored in some places...However, the situation is getting worse. In many cases, especially when wind speeds exceed 80 km/h, it is not safe for staff to go to the scene to electricity repair," Reuters quoted Mr. Matt Drover of Nova Scotia Electric Company.
Sustained winds of more than 100 km/h in the west and over 90 km/h in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia's largest city. Halifax International Airport is closed to all flights.
Officials in Halifax, home to one of Canada's largest ports, urged people to stay home. "The worst of the storm is yet to come," warned Halifax Mayor Mike Savage.
The location of Storm Lee's landfall is also about 80 km southeast of Eastport ( Maine , USA). A motorcyclist was killed on the highway in Searsport (Maine) due to a falling tree.
US President Joe Biden's administration declared a state of emergency for Maine and Massachusetts, providing federal support for these two states to respond to the storm.
Strong storm winds spread up to 220 km from the center of Hurricane Lee, while tropical storm winds spread even further, up to 630 km from the center of the storm, enough to cover all of Maine and coastal Canada.
The scope of the storm was so large that it caused power outages spanning several hundred kilometers from the center of the storm. Hurricane Lee caused power outages to 11% of customers in Maine, 27% in Nova Scotia, 8% in New Brunswick and 3% in Prince Edward Island (Canada).
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper