It’s been nearly five days since Hurricane Fiona knocked out power to Puerto Rico and flooded many communities, but the now Category 4 hurricane continues to churn in the Atlantic Ocean.
This weekend, Fiona has a new target: The Canadian Maritimes.
Fiona had top sustained winds of 130 mph as of midday Friday. Fiona is expected to weaken slightly before brushing the coast of Nova Scotia Saturday morning. It is then expected to come ashore in Newfoundland and Labrador by late Saturday.
Environment Canada said the hurricane could be among the strongest to ever strike Canada.
Bob Robichaud of the Canadian Hurricane Center likened the storm’s setup to Hurricane Dorian in 2019, which caused millions in damage in the Canadian Maritimes.
The hurricane is losing some of its tropical characteristics as it approaches Canada, but the impacts will largely remain the same.
“When we see a storm going through that transition from a pure hurricane to a tropical storm, we typically see those wind fields expand so the storm actually gets bigger and this is what we are going to see with this particular storm,” Robichaud said. “So in terms of area of coverage, this is going to cover a very large area, very similar to what Dorian did three years ago.”
Meanwhile, Puerto Rico continues to cleanup from the storm. Nearly half of the island remains without power, as of Friday.