Lee Bears Down in New England, Canada
- Power outages are widespread in Maine.
- Coastal conditions are harsh in Rhode Island.
- Residents must remain vigilant.
Sign up for the Morning Brief email newsletter Get weekday updates from The Weather Channel and our meteorologists.
Power outages, downed trees and some street flooding were seen in parts of New England and Atlantic Canada as Lee moves north toward land.
About 72,000 homes and businesses were without power in Maine as of 11:30 a.m. EST, according to PowerOutage.us. Big waves crashed onto the beach in several areas and drivers were advised to check road conditions before travelling.
Thousands of people in Canada were also without power. More than 1,000 power outages were reported affecting about 120,000 utility customers in Nova Scotia.
Check the latest forecasts here.
Even though the storm is no longer a hurricane or tropical storm, that doesn’t mean anyone should let their guard down.
“This is still a strong, significant storm,” Weather.com meteorologist Dominica Davis said this morning.
“It could still cause heavy rain, high winds and storm surge.
Here’s how Lee impacted people and communities in his path.
Huge waves crash into Nova Scotia Lighthouse
A webcam showed huge waves crashing into Peggy Cove Lighthouse in Nova Scotia. Lee was expected to make landfall in Nova Scotia around midday.
Severe conditions were also seen on the Maine coast.
Concerns that Boston College-FSU game could be affected by weather
Today’s NCAA college football game in Boston between Boston College and Florida State University is currently scheduled to be played as scheduled. Kickoff is at noon ET.
“If the wind is high, I mean, yeah, it will have an impact, but at the end of the day, we’re trying to do what we can,” FSU coach Mike Norvell told Sports Illustrated before the game.
Canadian society fears being cut off in a major storm
“There is a small slice of Canada that is on high alert,” Danielle Banks, a meteorologist with Weather.com, said Friday.
This would be the Isthmus of Chignecto, a 13-mile-long stretch of marshland that connects Nova Scotia to the mainland.
“It’s very vulnerable to flooding,” Banks said.
Earthen dams built more than 400 years ago serve as protection.
“Rising sea levels are causing the waters to be at their highest levels now at high tide in the spring,” Banks said. “A big storm could overwhelm them and cut off Nova Scotia from the mainland.
Lobster fisherman: “Hit your hatches.”
“You just dot everything you have and go over everything you have and put it all together,” Steven Mattson, who works on a lobster boat out of Portland, Maine, told The Weather Channel on Friday.
“Just get everything out of the water that you think might move too much and then tape your hatches.”
Boats were moved and lobster traps pulled before the storm.
“We live outside the weather,” Mattson said. “And if we don’t agree with it, we have to work with it. That’s the name of the game. We work with Mother Nature.”
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment, and the importance of science in our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
