Weakened storm sweeps north

Hurricane Dorian

Dorian’s powerful winds arrived on Canada’s Atlantic coast yesterday, toppling a construction crane in Halifax and knocking out power for more than 300,000 people a day after the storm wreaked havoc on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

Residents of Nova Scotia braced for heavy rainfall and potential flooding along the coast, as officials in Halifax urged people to secure heavy objects that might become projectiles. Businesses were encouraged to close early.

‘‘We do not want the citizens of Halifax roaming downtown as the water is coming in,’’ said Erica Fleck, assistant chief of community risk reduction in Halifax, the provincial capital and home to 400,000 people.

As Canada prepared for Dorian, floodwaters receded yesterday from North Carolina’s Outer Banks, leaving behind a muddy trail of destruction. The storm’s worst damage in the US appeared to be on Ocracoke Island, which even in good weather is accessible only by boat or air and is popular with tourists for its undeveloped beaches. Longtime residents who waited out the storm described strong but manageable winds followed by a wall of water that flooded the first floors of many homes and forced some to await rescue from their attics.

‘‘We’re used to cleaning up dead limbs and trash that’s floating around,’’ said Ocracoke Island resident and business owner Philip Howard. ‘‘But now it’s everything: picnic tables, doors, lumber that’s been floating around.’’

Governor Roy Cooper said about 800 people had remained on the island to wait out Dorian . The storm made landfall on Saturday

morning over the Outer Banks as a far weaker storm than the monster that devastated the Bahamas. Yet despite having been downgraded to a Category 1 storm, it still sent seawater surging into homes on Ocracoke, many for the first time in memory.

More than 1100 Bahamians arrived in Palm Beach, Florida, after being evacuated by cruise ship from their hurricanebattered islands.

The Grand Celebration cruise ship returned to its home port after setting sail on Friday for Freeport, Grand Bahama, to deliver more than 100 tonnes of supplies and ferry dozens of health workers and emergency crews.

As it approached Canada, Dorian had maximum sustained winds of 160kmh, officials said.

Forecasters said the center of Dorian was expected to move across Nova Scotia, pass near or over Prince Edward Island, and then move to Newfoundland and Labrador today.

Canadian officials prepared for the possibility of flooding, washouts and storm surges, and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the military was mobilising to assist Nova Scotia.

Novia Scotia Power Inc. reported more than 300,000 customers were in the dark by

7pm local time, with power out in parts of Halifax, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. Karen Hutt, the utility’s chief executive, said Dorian is the largest weather event the company had ever responded to, and

1000 workers were ready to restore power once it’s safe.

Hurricanes in Canada are somewhat rare in part because once the storms reach colder Canadian waters, they lose their main source of energy. Canadian Hurricane Centre meteorologist Ian Hubbard said the last hurricanes to make landfall in Canada were Hurricane Igor and Hurricane Earl in September,

2010. –AP

AP Waves continue to pound the Avalon pier after a large portion of the pier was washed away by Hurricane Dorian which moved through the Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, area on Saturday.

AP Mark Winder, of Tampa, Florida, embraces his niece, Gabriella Winder, 10, and his mother, Marcia Winder both of of Freeport, Grand Bahamas, after they arrived at the Port of Palm Beach on the Grand Champion cruise ship in Riviera Beach.