Monster waves batter the coast
Ports swamped as Newfoundland sees 15m crests
Waves that were bigger than any other in the world on Thursday thrashed docked boats and threatened to damage buildings on the coast of Newfoundland as an unusually early severe storm bore down on the island on its way toward Europe and Africa.
The tallest waves in the storm were expected to surpass 15 metres, said Environment Canada meteorologist Dale Foote.
On land, furious winds measuring up to 160 km/h left swaths of Newfoundland without power, forcing schools to close and airports to cancel flights west to Halifax and Toronto. These winds generated waves that buffeted coastal fishing villages and the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, south of the island.
“If it’s not the strongest storm on the planet today, it’s very close," said meteorologist Bob Robichaud. "It’s certainly the biggest."
Environment Canada warned residents in communities all along the island’s east coast early on Thursday that the waves and wind could damage seaside infrastructure and homes and vehicles further inland. Later in the morning, Foote said the waves had swamped a boat that was moored to a wharf in the town of Bonavista.
“Waves like this will keep most of our fishing fleets home,” Foote said. “They won’t even venture out.”
Photos and videos posted to social media showed water levels rising at ferry terminals, in the Quidi Vidi harbour neighbourhood of St. John’s, the provincial capital, and at the Hibernia oilfield 300 kilometres offshore, where workers who were out on the rig peered through dense fog and reported that the waves were cresting higher than 25 metres.
Schools across the province were closed for the morning or delayed their openings. By midday, 10,000 Newfoundlanders were without power.
“We don’t usually see systems this intense,” said another Environment Canada meteorologist, Brian Walsh, who is based in St. John’s.
In Bonavista, town clerk David Hiscock estimated that a quarter of the 3,000 people who live there reside at sea level and said their homes were in danger of being inundated. The sea fences built to keep waves from breaching the shore have deteriorated as storms have strengthened over the years, putting roads and other infrastructure at risk during extreme weather events.
“The shore is taking an awful beating," Hiscock said. “Those people, they’re not flooded, but they’re the next thing to it.”
The waves are expected to abate in Newfoundland by Friday as they sweep farther east through the North Atlantic Ocean.