Larry leaves St. John’s to clean up damage
ST. JOHN’S, N.L.—The City of St. John’s is asking residents to stay home out of it — as the Newfoundland and Labrador saying goes — so crews can clean up the torn branches, downed power lines and scattered debris flung about the streets by Hurricane Larry.
The storm made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane along the southern coast of the island at 11:45 p.m. Atlantic time on Friday, bringing sheets of rain and sustained winds of 130 km/h across the Avalon Peninsula, which includes the provincial capital of St. John’s. Wind gusts reached speeds as high as 182 km/h, according to measurements at the Cape St. Mary’s Lighthouse.
The winds resulted in massive storm surges that brought waves up onto the road in places such as St. Vincent’s, a popular spot to watch whales.
Pictures shared on social media show fishing stages in Southern Harbour, which sits on a thin stretch of land connecting the Avalon Peninsula with the rest of the island, decimated by the pounding surf.
In St. John’s, the streets were lined with branches torn from trees, debris pried from houses and, in the Rabbittown neighborhood, a tossed-about easy chair.
A small crowd gathered around Mary Queen of Peace Elementary School, shaking their heads slowly as fragments of the school’s shredded roof whipped around in the winds. A large part of the roof was blown clear off the building and lay in a heap of siding and nail-riddled boards some distance away.
Mayor Danny Breen pleaded with residents to stay home on Saturday to give city crews a chance to clean up fallen branches and repair the many streetlights now dangling from their wires.