Tropical storm Earl, a mere shadow of the massive hurricane that frightened the US East Coast this week, lashed Atlantic Canada on Saturday with high winds, waves and driving rain. The core of the storm was expected to hit the Nova Scotia coast by mid morning, Canadian authorities said, warning that winds could still build to hurricane levels in parts of the province.
"It has been picking up speed," said Bill Appleby, regional director for Environment Canada's Hurricane Centre. "Pretty much we'll have a hurricane watch out for the south western coast of Nova Scotia." The Miami-based US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) reported at 8 am EDT (1200 GMT) that the tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour (110 kph), slightly below hurricane intensity, with higher gusts.
"These strong wind gusts could cause tree branches and limbs to break and some trees to come down," the Canadian Hurricane Centre said. "That could result in downed utility lines and related power failures." Power outages were reported along much of the south shore of Nova Scotia.
Earl delivered heavy rain and gusty winds to parts of New England en route to Canada, but caused far less damage than feared on its path up the US coast from North Carolina. Officials warned that Earl - though no longer packing anywhere near the power of its peak ranking as a fearsome Category 4 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale - was still a large storm and could cause sea surges and localised flooding.
At 8 am EDT (1200 GMT), Earl's centre was located about 40 miles (65 km) south of Cape Sable, Nova Scotia. The fading storm raised hopes that the US Northeast will suffer only limited losses during the three-day Labour Day holiday weekend, which airlines and other businesses bank on for a final surge of summer tourist dollars.
Many residents and business owners on Massachusetts' Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket had boarded up windows on Thursday preparing for the worst. The Coast Guard closed ports in south-eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Dozens of flights were cancelled to the area, National Guard troops were standing by, and extra utility crews were in place to respond to any power outages.
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