Hurricane Lee – 2 articles: 1) Environment Canada Extends Hurricane Watch To Halifax As Lee Creeps Closer; 2) “An Uneasy Feeling”: As Lee Track Unclear, Hurricane Anxiety Increasing On East Coast
1) Environment Canada Extends Hurricane Watch To Halifax As Lee Creeps Closer
Courtesy of Barrie360.com and Canadian PressPublished: Sep 15th, 2023
By Michael MacDonald in Halifax
Boats were being pulled out of the water in Nova Scotia Friday as forecasters warned hurricane Lee could soon bring damaging winds, large waves, flooding and power outages.
Jennifer Chandler, commodore at the Chester Yacht Club, said she and her team have been working for days to prepare for what she anticipates will be a “significant storm.” Chester is in Lunenburg County, which with neighbouring Halifax County was added Friday to the list of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick communities under a hurricane watch.
“When we get a direct impact, it hits us pretty hard here,” Chandler said in an interview. “Over the last five days, most people have been taking their boats out if they can …. We’ll be lashing down a lot of the gear. We’ve already taken all the furniture off our deck.”
Hurricane Lee is expected to move into western Nova Scotia and southern New Brunswick on Saturday, bringing heavy rains, high winds, and powerful waves, Environment Canada said in an update Friday morning.
Winds could gust up to 120 kilometres an hour, toppling trees and downing power lines, the agency warned. Rainfalls of up to 100 millimetres could cause flooding in parts of southwestern Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, including Saint John and Moncton, Environment Canada said. Areas along Nova Scotia’s central Atlantic coast could see breaking waves of between four and six metres.
As of about noon on Friday, Lee appeared to be transitioning from a Category 1 hurricane to a strong post-tropical storm, said Bob Robichaud, warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada. The storm was about 1,000 kilometres southwest of Halifax, and was slowly weakening, with its maximum sustained wind speeds hitting about 130 kilometres per hour, he said.
“But this is a very, very large storm,” he told reporters. “We expect this storm as it approaches, and as it gets close to the coastline, should be very close to hurricane strength.”
The centre of the powerful storm will likely pass over southwestern Nova Scotia some time on Saturday afternoon, bringing Lee’s strongest winds and heaviest rainfall, Robichaud said.
But Lee’s impact is expected to be felt as much as 300 kilometres from the centre, and some parts of Nova Scotia will begin to experience its winds and rains on Friday night, he said.
“The time to prepare is today. Tomorrow will be too late,” he added.
The worst conditions should last about 12 hours, but it could be more than 24 hours — perhaps up to 36 hours — that some areas are coping with rain and high winds, he added.
New Brunswick’s Bay of Fundy coast and most of mainland Nova Scotia were under a tropical storm warning Friday morning. A hurricane watch was in place for Grand Manan Island and coastal Charlotte County, N.B., and for the Nova Scotia counties of Digby, Yarmouth, Shelburne, and Queens.
Environment Canada issues watches for areas where hurricane-force winds could threaten within 36 hours, according to the agency’s website. A watch does not mean a hurricane is definitely going to hit; it’s a warning to everyone in the area to be prepared to act quickly if it does.
Connor Hanrahan braved the lineups at the busy Atlantic Superstore in Liverpool, N.S., Friday afternoon to stock up on groceries. As he loaded pints of strawberries and bottles of water into the truck of his car, he said he was most concerned about power outages.
“You can’t be too safe, you know?” he said in an interview. “You want to have all your necessities, have your water, have your sliced meats, have some bread.”
Hanrahan is from Halifax, but he’s staying in Port Joli, N.S., along the province’s southwest coast. Being in a coastal area, he said he’s also worried about storm surges, which occur when the powerful, cyclonic winds push water up toward — and sometimes over — the shoreline.
“Luckily, where I’m at, it’s on an inlet, so there is a little protection,” he said.
Bonnie Morse, mayor of the Village of Grand Manan, said preparations are also underway on the island, located in the Bay of Fundy. The Grand Manan council held an emergency preparedness meeting with police and other first responders on Thursday to plan for what may come, Morse said.
The island is used to big storms hitting in the winter when the ground is frozen and the trees are bare. But right now, the ground is saturated from rain in the past few days, she said. And the trees are full and leafy, which means they could more easily knock out power lines if they fall.
“We’re hopeful that this isn’t going to be like Fiona was last year in Nova Scotia,” Morse said in an interview Thursday, referring to the post-tropical storm that hit the region last September. “We’re hopeful that we’ll all come through it OK.”
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs warned residents to have enough food, medicine and other supplies to last them 72 hours. “Do not put yourselves in harm’s way. And caution others, certainly, to do the same,” he said Friday afternoon during a hurricane briefing.
At the Chester Yacht Club, Chandler said members began removing their boats days ago. September is normally a busy month for boaters, she said, but with Lee on the way, the bay is virtually empty.
“Which is a good thing,” she added, smiling.
2) “An Uneasy Feeling”: As Lee Track Unclear, Hurricane Anxiety Increasing On East Coast
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian PressPublished: Sep 11th, 2023
Though the track of Hurricane Lee remains unclear, anxiety created by powerful storms has been growing on the East Coast — especially in communities that felt Fiona’s wrath last year.
The mayor of Port aux Basques, N.L. says since last year’s hurricane damaged over 100 homes and swept a 72−year−old woman to sea, community members are worried about Lee, as forecasters say it’s uncertain whether the hurricane will even track towards the region.
“The old attitude was, ’It’s just another storm. We can batten it down,’” Mayor Brian Button said during an interview on Sunday.
“Now, it’s an uneasy feeling.”
In Amherst, N.S., Mayor David Kogon said there’s fear that a tidal surge could flood the Chignecto Isthmus.
“A hurricane timed with a high tide could flood isthmus…which would totally cut us off from New Brunswick and Canada,” he said.
Kogon, who is also a semi−retired doctor, said when he walks around his community he sees more generators in sheds and yards, at the ready in case the power goes out, a reminder of how these climate crises are creating anxiety.
“Mental health is a bigger crisis than some other areas of medicine. And so with (climate anxiety) you’ve got another factor that’s going to…put pressure on the health care system,” he said.
The Nova Scotia and New Brunswick governments have asked Ottawa to cover half the cost of protecting the road and railway on the isthmus, but an engineering study released last year has found it could take decades to improve and strengthen the dike system.
As of Sunday, Hurricane Lee was creating large swells that were battering several islands in the northeastern Caribbean as it churned through open waters as a Category 2 storm.
Bob Robichaud, a senior forecaster with Environment Canada, said on Saturday that the federal agency will be closely watching in the beginning of the week, when the storm is expected to make its turn to the northwest. He said the agency is expecting the storm to have some form of impact on the region by next weekend.
He said the further east that turning point is, the lower the likelihood of a significant impact on the region. Forecasters will also be closely monitoring a high-pressure system over the Great Lakes, hoping that pushes the hurricane further offshore.
In addition, there are factors such as water temperatures Lee will encounter when it tracks north. Robichaud said there were several “patches” of cool water detected over the weekend, which the storm would have to cross to get to the Atlantic, potentially diminishing its power.
However, there are also warmer than normal water temperatures off Nova Scotia’s south shore, where Robichaud said temperatures are about 3 to 4 C higher than historical norms for this time of year.
“There’s still a fairly large spread in the modelling as to what, if any, kind of impacts Lee has in Canada. But, certainly, it is one to keep an eye on as we head into the next few days,” said Robichaud.
Nancy Blair, a registered therapist in Dartmouth, N.,S., said more of her clients are anxious during this hurricane season.
She said that climate change worry may deepen into mental health issues, and advises that people discuss it with others rather than just keeping their fears buried.
“There is nothing wrong with you,” she said during an interview from her office.
“You’re feeling anxiety because something’s wrong…The more people talk about it, the more they can be prepared,”
Blair added Nova Scotians who have already been traumatized by the loss or damage to properties during summer flash flooding are particularly vulnerable to elevated levels of anxiety during hurricane forecasts.
She advises people experiencing this stress to be careful about exposing themselves to exaggerated reports of hurricane danger on social media, and to instead use credible media sources to track storms — if necessary.
In addition, she says exercising, eating well and spending time outside are helpful practices, along with times of quiet, meditation, and rest.
Meanwhile, talking with friends about emergency preparedness is a time−tested strategy in the Maritimes, such as exchanging tips on necessary supplies — including medicine, food and water — needed for 72 hours if power goes out, said Blair.
Amid the trying times, “there’s a need for connection with community,” she said.
“We have a climate cafe group that meets monthly in our neighbourhood where people come and just talk about how they’re feeling. It really helps people. It cuts the sense of isolation.”
Patricia is the Business Mentor and owner of Grow Vantage and a Past President of the Barrie Chamber of Commerce. She applies over 30 years of business experience (from start-up to corporate) to mentor entrepreneurs. Since 2011, she has held over 6,500 coaching and training sessions in-person and online. Through Ask For Directions Training, her entrepreneurial training program (and parent company Grow Vantage), and as a business coach, she works with start-ups who are new (or who have lost traction) to design, launch and grow their businesses. Along with 20 other expert instructors she teaches strategies in marketing, sales, communications, and finance, as well as practical techniques to increase productivity, and manage their businesses. In other words, everything entrepreneurs need to learn to grow and run their businesses successfully, and avoid the costly mistakes they can't even see coming - that lead to delays in growth and getting stuck.
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