Hurricane Arthur: Downgraded to Tropical Storm, Moving North Across Canada
After hitting the coast of North Carolina on Thursday, causing flooding and power outages, Hurricane Arthur was downgraded to a post-Tropical Storm on Saturday as it heads north across New England and Canada.
According to AL.com, tropical storm warnings remained in effect for Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and some parts of New Brunswick in Canada.
Arthur made landfall on North Carolina's barrier islands Thursday night, bringing heavy rain and strong winds up to 100 mph. However, the storm was far less damaging in the state than expected.
On Friday, the storm system caused some homes and businesses to flood, toppled trees and left thousands of people without electricity as it raced through the Outer Banks. Independence Day fireworks were also postponed, but fortunately, there were no deaths or serious injuries. Instead, only about 20 feet of the road connecting Hatteras Island to the rest of the state buckled and is in need of repairs.
Besides causing steady rain in parts of New England on Friday, the storm didn't cause much other damage. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), there were no reports of injuries, deaths or significant damage. However, 3,000 homes and business in Massachusetts lost power. And in Maine,15,000 people lost power, while 261 people took refuge in shelters in Massachusetts, USA Today reported.
By Saturday, Arthur was downgraded to a post-tropical storm and its maximum sustained winds were reduced to 65 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. The agency said it is still tracking the storm, which is moving at about 22 mph and located about 65 miles southwest of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.
Arthur, the first named tropical storm of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season, started off as a tropical depression on Tuesday over Miami and the Bahamas. It set the record for being the earliest storm in the hurricane season to make landfall in North Carolina.
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