– It was worse than we expected, city mayor Brian Button tells TV station Radio Canada.

“Fiona” was downgraded from a hurricane before it hit Canada with wind gusts of up to 38 meters per second on Saturday. Meteorologists had warned that the storm could bring hurricane-force winds, huge amounts of rain and big waves.

In the town of Channel-Port Port aux Basques, located on the coast of Newfoundland, several people lost their homes after several houses ended up at sea.

The large amounts of water caused landslides in several places. The streets were washed away by the masses of water.

– It’s total destruction, said Button.

On Friday, some residents of the city, who live closest to the coast, were told to evacuate. On Saturday morning they were required to do so.

– We will expel people from their homes if necessary, said Button.

High winds blew power lines and there was flooding in the city hall. There were also problems with the water supply.

– It is without a doubt the scariest thing I have seen in my entire life, local journalist René Roy told the BBC.

Many have lost both mobile signal and internet connections.

– Many houses have turned into a pile of ruins in the sea. It’s an apartment building that has literally disappeared, says Roy.

A woman was washed at sea

According to the police, a woman was swept into the sea in Channel-Port aux Baques. She has the status of missing.

Another woman ended up in the lake after her house collapsed. She was rescued and taken to hospital, police officer Jolene Garland told CBC.

In the provinces Nova Scotland 415,000 customers were affected by power cuts on Saturday morning.

In the province of Prince Edward Island, 82,000 people were without power, while another 44,000 lost power in New Brunswick, Canadian electricity providers said.

“Fiona” had the strongest depression on record that made landfall in Canada, according to the country’s hurricane center.

soldiers

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he had given federal aid to the province of Nova Scotia.

– The military will be deployed to help with the clean-up work, he signs Twitter.

The storm prompted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to postpone a trip to Japan, where he was due to attend the funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday.

Defense Minister Anita Anand said on Saturday soldiers were being deployed to remove fallen trees and help with other clean-up operations, as well as restore transportation networks. She gave no figures on the number of soldiers who will help her.

Historical

Storm “Fiona” moved from the Caribbean. At least eight people lost their lives when Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic were hit about a week ago. Almost everyone in Puerto Rico has lost power, about half of customers are still waiting to get power back.

Ian Hubbard, who is a meteorologist at the Canadian Hurricane Center, describes the storm as “historic”.

– It looked like he had the potential to break all records in Canada and now it looks like he does. We’re not done with that yet, Hubbard told Reuters.