In Canada, Hurricane Fiona crashed into Nova Scotia Saturday with record-setting ferocity, devastating coastal communities with hurricane-force winds and leaving hundreds of thousands of people in the dark. Fiona was fueled by anomalously warm ocean surface temperatures that allowed it to maintain its strength much farther north than usual; it made landfall with the lowest barometric pressure of any storm ever observed in Canada. In Newfoundland, the mayor of Port aux Basques said Fiona had left the seaside town looking “like a war zone,” with at least one person missing and presumed dead after her home was washed out to sea. This is Nova Scotia’s premier, Tim Houston.
Premier Tim Houston: “We know that the climate is changing for sure. We’re seeing — you know, look around the world. You’re seeing fires, storms. Certainly this is a historic storm for this province. There’s no question about that. The damage is significant. But right now — the priority right now is getting power back to people, getting people a safe shelter, getting, you know, some return to normal. That will take time.”