Hurricane Fiona made landfall on Canada’s Atlantic coast early Saturday, September 24, where the weather services had announced what it called a “historic” storm. More than 500,000 homes are without power and one woman has been reported missing.

Hurricane Fiona hit Canada’s Atlantic coast hard on Saturday, leaving half a million homes without power, severe property damage and one woman missing.

Two women were washed away in Channel-Port-aux-Basques, Newfoundland province, according to a police spokeswoman. One of the two victims, who was carried away after his home collapsed, was rescued and hospitalized, the other remains missing.

Trees uprooted, homes washed away, power lines damaged… “Fiona came and made her mark on Nova Scotia and the surrounding provinces,” said the region’s Premier Tim Houston during a news conference Saturday afternoon.

The storm also hit Quebec, specifically the province of Gaspésie. Dubuc Castle, a historic building in the town of Chandler, was washed away by the flood.

“We will be there for you,” assures Justin Trudeau

“Thinking of everyone affected by Hurricane Fiona. Know that we are with you,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted, announcing that federal agencies are ready to “provide additional resources to the provinces.”

The head of government, who had canceled his attendance in Japan for the funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, assured during a press conference on Saturday afternoon that he was “following the situation very closely”.

“Canadians are thinking of all affected by Hurricane Fiona which is having a devastating impact (…). There are people who see their homes destroyed, people who are very worried – we will be there for you,” he said.

power outages

“It’s unbelievable, there’s no electricity, no wifi, no more network,” exclaimed Charlottetown Mayor Philip Brown on public broadcaster Radio-Canada. “Many trees have fallen, there is a lot of flooding on the roads.”

A tree fell on a fire engine and a broken power line required on-site firefighters to wait for Nova Scotia Power technicians to get out.

Nova Scotia Power, which supplies electricity to Nova Scotia, reported 339,000 homes without power by early evening. In the other two most affected provinces, the Prince Edward Island operator had disconnected 82,000 households from the grid a little earlier, and New Brunswick 40,000.

Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon on the Orange Vigilance

The French archipelago of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, to the south of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, has been placed under yellow alert for high winds and orange alert for dangerous seas by the Institut Météo-France. .

Fiona had spent Friday off Bermuda after wreaking havoc in the Caribbean.

The storm there killed four people in Puerto Rico on American territory. One death had been reported in Guadeloupe and two in the Dominican Republic.