Maine, Canada, is hit by strong winds and heavy rain, with thousands left without power
Post-tropical Cyclone Lee continues to weaken as it spins across Canada
Post-tropical Cyclone Lee continues to weaken as it spins across Canada, but cleanup efforts are underway after the powerful storm downed trees and power lines and killed at least two people.
Bar Harbor, Maine – A cleanup is underway in Maine and Canada after post-tropical Hurricane Lee dumped torrential rains and strong winds that knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers and killed at least two people.
In the wake of Hurricane Lee, another storm will barrel into the Northeast, raising the risk of more heavy rain for the third time in less than a week.
Lee leaves at least two people dead in Florida, Maine
Winds from Lee toppled a large tree in Maine, causing it to hit the windshield of a truck, narrowly missing the driver and his passenger. (Maine State Police/Facebook)
At least two deaths have been attributed to Lee so far, and other injuries linked to Lee have also been reported.
The first fatality in Florida occurred earlier this week when Hurricane Lee tore through the Atlantic Ocean and caused dangerous rip currents along the coast. Officials in Fernandina Beach said a 15-year-old boy drowned.
Florida, Maine report deaths linked to me
Officials said the teenager was swimming with two other people when he disappeared after falling from a raft. Other swimmers were helped back to shore, but a search began for the missing teenager, His body was eventually found.
Winds from post-tropical Cyclone Lee toppled a tree onto a car in Searsport, Maine, killing a 50-year-old man inside, police said Saturday.
The tree also downed power lines, and first responders had to wait for a power outage to reach the victim, officials said. They were eventually able to reach the victim and transport him to a local hospital where he later died.
A group of people driving in Morrow Plantation, Maine, were involved in a near accident when a large tree fell across Route 11.
Maine State Police said the truck driver swerved to avoid the tree but was unable to avoid it. The top of the tree then penetrated the windshield, narrowly missing the driver and his passenger.
The driver sustained minor injuries, and no injuries were reported to any of the passengers.
A tree on top of a police cruiser in Cohasset, Massachusetts, on Saturday, September 16, 2023. (Fox Weather)
A police officer managed to escape with injuries in Cohasset, Massachusetts, after a large tree was toppled by wind from a lee. An officer responded to reports of low-hanging wires in the area of South Main Street and River Road on Saturday, police said.
While the officer was outside his cruiser, he said he heard a loud noise and saw the large tree fall toward him. He was able to run and get out of the way before the tree landed on his cruiser.
What’s next for me?
However, more than 300,000 customers in the US and Canada lost power during Lee’s peak, Crews are out in full force making repairs to downed utility lines to get customers back online.
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As of Sunday morning, about 43,000 customers were in the dark in Maine while just over 100,000 were without power in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Cell phone service was also reported to be spotty in the area, likely due to widespread power outages.
Lee made landfall just after 4 p.m. Saturday on Long Island, Nova Scotia, with winds of about 70 mph. As of Sunday morning, Post-Tropical Cyclone Lee had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph with higher gusts and was moving to the northeast at 22 mph.
This movement is expected to continue over the next few days, and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Lee will move over Newfoundland on Sunday afternoon and then return over the Atlantic Ocean by Monday.
The boat breaks free and crashes into a Maine pier
The boat hits the pier and seawall in Maine as waves from Lee crash onto the shore
FOX Weather meteorologist Michael Estime captures the moment strong waves from Lee push a boat toward a concrete dock and seawall in Bar Harbor, Maine. September 16, 2023.
Saturday morning, a FOX meteorologist said Michael Esteem He was covering the storm from Bar Harbor, Maine, when he saw a boat being pushed by strong waves toward a concrete dock before crashing into a seawall.
“We saw one of these boats… it was disintegrated and the boat was rocking and rolling… and within 30 seconds, the wind took this boat and slammed it into the seawall right behind Pier No. 2, and then we lost it while it was sailing.” “Out of our range of vision,” he said.
It caused strong winds from New England to Canada
Lee produced hurricane-force wind gusts in both the United States and Canada before making landfall.
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In Perry, Maine, near the Canada-U.S. border, wind speeds reached 83 mph early Saturday morning. Wind speeds on Grand Manan Island in Canada reached 93 mph while Halifax, Nova Scotia reached 73 mph. A monitoring site in New Brunswick reported wind gusts of 93 mph.
At higher elevations, Lee helped produce a 96 mph wind gust at Mount Washington in New Hampshire.
