Canada tallies damage after powerful storm strikes

MONTREAL — Parts of eastern Canada suffered "immense" devastation, officials said on Sunday after powerful storm Fiona swept houses into the sea and caused major power outages, as the Caribbean and Florida braced for intensifying Tropical Storm Ian.

Canadian authorities have now confirmed two deaths caused when Fiona, then a post-tropical cyclone, tore into Nova Scotia and Newfoundland on Saturday.

Fiona had earlier claimed seven lives as it roared through the Caribbean at the start of a week of havoc.

Officials on Prince Edward Island on Sunday confirmed the death of one person there, though there were few details.

Officials have found the body of a 73-year-old woman believed to have been swept from her home in Newfoundland. She apparently was sheltering in her basement when waves broke through.

The storm packed intense winds of 130 kilometers per hour when it arrived with force rarely seen in eastern Canada, bringing torrential rain and waves of up to 12 meters.

"The devastation is immense," Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston told reporters. "The magnitude of the storm is incredible."

Storm surges swept at least 20 homes into the sea in the town of Channel-Port aux Basques, on the southwestern tip of Newfoundland.

Mayor Brian Button described "a total war zone" in the coastal community. Some 200 residents had been evacuated before the storm hit.

On Sunday, residents were reckoning with the damage.

"Some people have lost everything, and I mean everything," Button told CBC News.

"The sea was taking back the land and we were getting separated. A lot of our homes are built along the coastline along the Atlantic Ocean. Down there, Fiona just wiped out parts of that."

More than 300,000 people were still without electricity across five provinces on Sunday after the storm felled trees, ripped roofs from buildings and damaged power lines, officials said. Hundreds of utility crews were working to restore power.

Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said the Canadian armed forces would provide assistance to Newfoundland's cleanup efforts. It became the third province to request federal military assistance, after Nova Scotia on Saturday and Prince Edward Island earlier Sunday.

Television images showed a long line of cars and people on foot queuing to get gas for generators in Cape Breton, an island off Nova Scotia, where dozens had spent the night in relief centers operated by the Canadian Red Cross.

On Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown Police Chief Brad MacConnell pleaded with residents to stay inside as recovery efforts continue.

"We ask people to stay home unless absolutely necessary," he said, adding that there's "a lot of devastation" and hardly an area of the city that had not been significantly affected.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter that he had met again with his Incident Response Group to ensure that "resources are available to help those affected by the storm."

By Sunday, with a waning Fiona dissipating over the Labrador Sea, the country's environmental agency said all warnings had been canceled.

Further south, parts of the Caribbean as well as the US state of Florida were preparing for Tropical Storm Ian, which the US National Hurricane Center said is forecast to become a hurricane on Monday and a major hurricane the following day.

The storm is expected to pass near the Cayman Islands, either near or over western Cuba, and then head toward Florida, the hurricane center said.

A hurricane warning is in effect for parts of Cuba — where the storm is forecast to "produce significant wind and storm surge" — as well as the British territory of Grand Cayman, according to the center.

Agencies via Xinhua