Hurricane Bill may be on track to hit Canada
| August 19, 2009 | 10:56 AM
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Now churning away in the Atlantic as a Category 4 storm, Hurricane Bill is expected to curve away from the U.S. East Coast but could instead hit Canada’s Maritime Provinces next week.
Fortunately, Bill is expected to weaken before then, although it still could damage oil refineries in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The Canadian Hurricane Centre is telling residents in these areas to prepare for the possibility of being without water and electricity for three days.
Thanks to the tempering effects of cooler Atlantic water the farther north you go, hurricanes rarely hit Canada at full force. The outer storm bands still can cause plenty of damage, though.
The most famous hurricane to affect Canada didn’t approach it from the Atlantic at all. In October 1954, Hurricane Hazel made landfall as a Category 4 storm near the North Carolina/South Carolina border. It continued north through Virginia and New York, eventually affecting Ontario and Quebec with winds that were just below hurricane strength. The storm did $100 million in damage in Canada, mostly from flooding due to heavy rains, and killed 100 people there.
Canada, hurricane bill, hurricane hazel, weather
