Hurricane Larry brought heavy rain and high winds to parts of Newfoundland late Friday, making landfall in the province as the powerful storm continued on its northward path across the Atlantic.
Larry, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, made landfall near South East Bight on the Burin Peninsula at 11:45 p.m., the National Hurricane Center said. Videos on Twitter showed eastern parts of Newfoundland being pelted by heavy rain as the storm neared its coastline Friday night, bringing increasingly powerful winds to the area.
Thousands of customers lost power in the city of St. John’s and surrounding areas due to “severe weather conditions,” according to the Newfoundland Power website. Telephone and e-mail messages seeking comment were not immediately returned.
The hurricane centre also warned of possible flooding. Andrew Furey, the premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, said in a news conference Thursday that residents should prepare for the storm.
“The utility companies have emergency measures plans in place, as do the regional health authorities,” Furey said, according to CTV News. “We don’t know what storms bring, but we can be prepared for the worst.”
Hurricane Larry expected to make landfall in eastern Newfoundland
Firefighters in St. John’s urged residents to prepare items like flashlights, batteries, food and water, telling them to “put away all outside items that could be projectiles.”
In the past 70 years, only 23 hurricanes or post-tropical storms of hurricane strength have made landfall in Canada, according to the Canadian Hurricane Centre.
Maggie Burton, the councillor at large for St. John’s, warned of the storm’s potential impact on more vulnerable residents.
“With extreme weather and natural disasters becoming more and more common, I am calling on all levels of government to develop inclusive emergency preparedness plans,” she said on Twitter.
Newfoundland was preparing for high winds and potential power outages.
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The St. John’s city government issued an advisory Wednesday with tips on how residents could prepare for being alone for up to 72 hours in case of dire emergency. The city, which is in the middle of an election, asked candidates and residents to take down election signs in anticipation of high winds.
The city said it was clearing debris from storm drains and rivers and preparing sand bags to try to prevent extreme flooding. The city was also fuelling equipment, like loaders and graders, in case debris from the hurricane obstructs streets.
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, the province’s police, planned to deploy the same team that worked during the “snowmageddon” of last year, when a winter storm dumped about 30 inches of snow in St John’s, James C. Cadigan, a spokesperson, said Friday.
“These are probably our most experienced patrol officers for a weather event that you’re going to get,” he said.
Canada is not used to preparing for hurricanes, but Cadigan said that officers were ready to help residents get flood water out of their homes, if necessary, and would be equipped with full tanks of fuel and extra food for people in need.
Cadigan said that he was particularly worried about floods, and that the authorities were urging people to stay away from coastlines and off roads. “We are we are an island and we have a lot of coastal communities.” he said. “And the storm surges can be very dangerous to coastal communities.”
The advisory also provided numbers for those dealing with domestic abuse or those who use illicit drugs to find specialized help.
Larry, which formed on Sept. 1, strengthened to a Category 3 storm two days later but has since weakened to a Category 1, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. It passed Bermuda on Thursday but had otherwise posed little threat to land. Some meteorologists estimated Friday that the hurricane’s eye was 90 miles wide.
Although the hurricane was well east of the United States early Friday afternoon, large swells generated by the storm threatened to cause dangerous surf and rip currents along the East Coast, the National Weather Service said.
It has been a dizzying few weeks for meteorologists who have monitored several named storms that formed in quick succession, bringing stormy weather, flooding and damaging winds to parts of the United States and the Caribbean.
Tropical Storm Mindy hit the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday night, just hours after it formed in the Gulf of Mexico. It was downgraded to a tropical depression on Thursday but brought heavy rain to parts of the southeastern United States before moving into the Atlantic Ocean.
Ida battered Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane on Aug. 29 before its remnants brought deadly flooding to the New York area. Two other tropical storms, Julian and Kate, both fizzled out within a day.
Not long before them, in mid-August, Tropical Storm Fred made landfall in the Florida Panhandle and Hurricane Grace hit Haiti and Mexico. Tropical Storm Henri knocked out power and brought record rainfall to the northeastern United States on Aug. 22.
The quick succession of named storms might make it seem as if the Atlantic is spinning them up like a fast-paced conveyor belt, but their formation coincides with the peak of hurricane season.
The links between hurricanes and climate change are becoming more apparent. A warming planet can expect stronger hurricanes over time, and a higher incidence of the most powerful storms – though the overall number of storms could drop, because factors like stronger wind shear could keep weaker storms from forming.
Hurricanes are also becoming wetter because of more water vapour in the warmer atmosphere; scientists have suggested storms like Hurricane Harvey in 2017 produced far more rain than they would have without the human effects on climate. Also, rising sea levels are contributing to higher storm surge – the most destructive element of tropical cyclones.
Ana became the first named storm of the season on May 23, making this the seventh year in a row that a named storm developed in the Atlantic before the official start of the season on June 1.
In May, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast that there would be 13 to 20 named storms this year, six to 10 of which would be hurricanes, including three to five major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher in the Atlantic.
NOAA updated its forecast in early August, predicting 15 to 21 named storms, including seven to 10 hurricanes, by the end of the season on Nov. 30.
Last year, there were 30 named storms, including six major hurricanes, forcing meteorologists to exhaust the alphabet for the second time and move to using Greek letters.
It was the most named storms on record, surpassing the 28 from 2005, and the second-highest number of hurricanes.
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