Residents pulled boats from harbors and utilities crews staged up and down the New England coast Friday as Hurricane Lee approached a rare landfall near Maine.
Lee was a Category 1 storm on Friday night, with sustained winds of 80mph. It was moving north in the Atlantic Ocean and is expected to come ashore near the easternmost tip of Maine and over Nova Scotia on Saturday.
A Hurricane Watch was in effect for New Brunswick from the U.S./Canada border to Point Lepreau and in Nova Scotia from Digby to Ecum Secum.
A Tropical Storm Warning was in effect for Westport Massachusetts northward to the U.S./Canada border, and for Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
A Tropical Storm Warning was in effect for Prince Edward Island, Magdalen Islands, New Brunswick from Belledune to Shediac, Nova Scotia from Tidnish to Aulds Cove and Nova Scotia from Aulds Cove to Meat Cove to Point Tupper.
"Tropical storm conditions and coastal flooding are expected to begin in southern New England within the Tropical Storm Warning area this evening, and spread northward along the coast of New England and over portions of Atlantic Canada through Saturday. These conditions are likely to lead to downed trees and potential power outages," the National Hurricane Center wrote. "Heavy rainfall from Lee could produce localized urban and small stream flooding in portions of eastern Maine, New Brunswick and western Nova Scotia Saturday."
Maine under Hurricane Watch as Lee approaches
Maine entered its first Hurricane Watch in 15 years. Hurricane Lee is expected to reach the Northeast U.S. coast on Saturday.
Lee was expected to bring tropical storm-force winds and heavy rain to Maine, which could make power outages likely in the heavily forested state, and further saturate a region that's already received a lot of rain in the last week.
Maine and Massachusetts had both issued states of emergency by Friday, and asked Federal Emergency Management Agency to issue a pre-disaster emergency declaration.
In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convened the country's emergency response group, whose cabinet members and senior government officials plan national response to major events.
