‘A nasty night’ ahead as Lee set to make landfall in P.E.I. overnight
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOS
Lee’s impacts to be felt because the storm tracks into Atlantic Canada this weekend | SaltWire
Watch on YouTube: “Lee’s impacts to be felt as the storm tracks into Atlantic Canada this weekend | SaltWire”
CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Lee is anticipated to make landfall in P.E.I. Saturday, bringing in stronger winds and extra rain beginning within the afternoon.
Now ranked as a post-tropical storm system, Lee remains to be recording most sustained winds of 110 km/h, which is the equal of a weak Class 1 hurricane, in accordance with the afternoon update by Canadian Hurricane Centre and Surroundings Canada.
David Neil, who’s a meteorologist with Surroundings and Local weather Change Canada, stated Lee was anticipated to make landfall on the southwestern coast of Nova Scotia the afternoon of Sept. 16.
It was forecast to achieve the western a part of P.E.I. round 3 p.m. ADT, he stated.
“By that time, the storm can have weakened considerably. However with that stated, we’re nonetheless anticipating some fairly sturdy winds over the Island all through immediately and tonight,” Neil instructed SaltWire in an interview morning of Sept. 16.
“It’s a very good factor when you may keep away from the worst. However that stated, it’s nonetheless going to be a major storm because it comes up by … So it is definitely not one thing the place it is really helpful to go about enterprise as regular. It’s nonetheless going to be a nasty day and a nasty evening tonight with this storm.”
Greater than 1,400 Maritime Electrical clients are with out energy as of 5:55 p.m., in accordance with the outage map on the utility’s web site. Earlier within the afternoon, the quantity reached as excessive as 4,700.
Kim Griffin, who’s the spokesperson for Maritime Electrical, stated the outages have been attributable to bushes falling onto energy strains as a consequence of sturdy winds.
“We anticipated due to the bushes and the vegetation with the winds immediately that we have been going to have some points immediately,” she stated.
“We introduced in crews forward of the anticipated Lee, so we have had crews out working all day immediately they usually’ll work all into tonight. So, we’ll be monitoring it very carefully and restoring energy as rapidly as we are able to.”
Submit-tropical storm #Lee is anticipated to achieve #PEI late tonight. Check out the scenes at Kinlock Seashore and Charlottetown Yacht Membership earlier than the storm will get right here. @PEIGuardian pic.twitter.com/EAtjfHJsos
— Thinh Nguyen (@thinhnguyen4291) September 16, 2023
All flights to and from Charlottetown Airport on Sept. 16, have been cancelled.
All Northumberland Ferries sailings on Sept. 16 are additionally cancelled because of the forecast of sturdy winds within the area.
At 1:12 p.m., the Confederation Bridge was closed to sure courses of automobiles till the present excessive wind state of affairs modifications. Restricted courses included vehicles towing trailers, bikes, highsided automobiles together with vehicles, tractor trailers, leisure automobiles, and buses.
The Confederation Bridge reported wind speeds of 87 km/h with gusts of 107 km/h as of 6 p.m. Saturday.
‘Good day to remain put’
Tropical storm warning and wind warning have in place throughout P.E.I. Sept. 16.
Neil stated sturdy winds will progressively choose up because the day goes on, shifting from a northeast path to southeast late within the afternoon, with wind gusts as much as 90 km/h. These sturdy winds will persist by the evening, progressively diminishing by early Sunday morning, Sept. 17.
“So it is definitely not one thing the place it is really helpful to go about enterprise as regular. It’s nonetheless going to be a nasty day and a nasty evening tonight with this storm.”
— David Neil, Surroundings Canada
“It is a good day to remain put and keep out of the climate,” he stated.
As for rainfall, Neil expects the heaviest rain to fall within the western a part of the Island, with lighter rainfall elsewhere on P.E.I.
The mix of sturdy winds and heavy rainfall will increase the danger of damaged tree limbs and uprooted bushes, doubtlessly resulting in energy outages and street blockages, he stated.
“The opposite factor to know too is it has been a really moist summer season, so the bottom remains to be fairly saturated in lots of locations within the Maritimes. So you place that with a further little bit of heavy rainfall and positively that can even improve your danger of seeing some bushes being uprooted,” Neil stated.
The P.E.I. authorities has printed an inventory of reception centres throughout the Island: https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/justice-and-public-safety/reception-centres.
In a press launch, the Metropolis of Charlottetown stated it’s ready to open reception centres on Sunday, Sept. 17 within the occasion of prolonged energy outages.
Further fireplace, police and public works crews will likely be introduced in in a single day as a precaution to cope with pressing issues.
For essentially the most up-to-date data, residents ought to examine native information and the town’s social media accounts.
Thinh Nguyen is a reporter with SaltWire in Prince Edward Island. He will be reached by e-mail at [email protected] and adopted on X @thinhnguyen4291.
