Environment Canada made it official early Friday: Hurricane Fiona is almost certain to make landfall in Prince Edward Island as a Category 1 storm with torrential rain.
The weather agency issued hurricane warnings for the province’s three counties, as well as rain, wind and storm surge warnings.
This will mean:
- Hurricane force winds of 100 km/h with gusts to 140 km/h in exposed places, pushing further inshore with gusts of 160 km/h.
- A swell of 1.8 to 2.4 meters and dangerous waves between 11 and 15 meters high on Saturday morning coinciding with the arrival of high tide.
- “Heavy and torrential” rainfall of between 50 and 100mm in total, with some localities possibly 150mm.
“The amounts of rain are going to be surprising,” CBC meteorologist Tina Simpkin said Friday morning. “Storm surge will also be a big problem and you can bet Fiona will change the look of the coast.”
An Environment Canada statement issued at 8:40 a.m. AT gave more context on erosion: “The western gulf will see waves from the north of up to 8 meters in places, which will likely cause significant erosion on oriented beaches north of Prince Edward Island. Illes-de-la-Madeleine will also see some coastal erosion from waves.”
Kings County in the east will likely see the most rain, with Queens and Kings counties experiencing the worst winds, Environment Canada said.
“Rain rates in excess of 25 mm per hour are possible starting tonight and continuing through Saturday,” the agency said.
A map issued by the Canadian Hurricane Center at 3 a.m. Friday morning. (Canadian Hurricane Centre) Winds east of Cape Breton and southwest Newfoundland to the east of the eye will likely reach gusts near Category 2 hurricane level, which is 160 km/h .
“In PEI and parts of northern Nova Scotia, winds will be much colder and from the northwest and could gust to 140 to 150 km/h.”
Environment Canada was blunt about the potential impact.
“These winds could cause significant tree fall and result in extended utility outages. Damage to building cladding and roofing material, including structural damage in certain cases, is likely. Winds from ‘this force could cause windows to shatter and large road signs to break.’
Lines were long outside Island Waste Watch in Charlottetown Thursday as people rushed to put unwanted items off their properties ahead of weekend winds that could turn them into projectiles. (CBC)
The warning also said Fiona “will cause damage to piers and breakwaters. Significant coastal erosion and large waves are expected where onshore winds blow.”
People who must venture outdoors during the storm are warned to be aware of wind debris and downed power lines, among other hazards.
“Stay away from the coast – the combination of waves and large swells could lead to dangerous currents and the risk of being swept out to sea,” Environment Canada said.
You will see rain and wind. That’s not Fiona yet.— Tanya Mullally
Friday turned out to be wet and windy, prompting Tanya Mullally of the province’s Emergency Management Organization to warn islanders not to let their guard down, thinking this indicates Fiona’s arrival will be mild .
“You will see rain and wind. This is not quite Fiona yet,” she said. “We’re going to experience a low system that’s moving across Canada into Atlantic Canada and that’s what Fiona is really aspiring to in the Maritimes and PEI.
“Fiona won’t really be heard, if I may say so, until later on Friday evening and overnight.”
A tree downed by Hurricane Fiona hangs from a power line above a street in Salinas, Puerto Rico, Tuesday. (Alejandro Granadillo/The Associated Press)
As of 8:30 a.m., Fiona was passing northwest of Bermuda with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph (205 km/h), after causing severe flooding in the Caribbean islands it touched down and killing at least eight people in Puerto Rico.
Travel impacts
Due to Fiona, the Confederation Bridge is warning of travel restrictions, starting around 9pm tonight and extending into Sunday morning.
Northumberland Ferries has canceled the 15:30, 17:00 and 19:00 AT sailings from Wood Islands and the 13:30, 17:15 and 18:30 AT sailings from Caribou, NS. All crossings on Saturday are canceled and the company expects disruptions on Sunday as well.
So far, Air Canada has canceled one of its Friday flights to Charlottetown, AC1570 from Montreal, which is normally expected at 11:30 p.m.
For more information on what outages are being announced due to the storm, click here: Hurricane Fiona: What’s open and closed in PEI