The impacts of Hurricane Lee started to make landfall Friday morning throughout New England and parts of Atlantic Canada.
Hurricane conditions started at around 5 a.m. AST on Friday, bringing heavy rainfall and high surf, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The entire region was placed under a tropical storm warning, as various forms of urban and river/stream flooding are expected, as well as high, damaging winds.
The storm conditions are expected to last throughout the weekend, and will get progressively worse as Friday goes on, NHC said. Downed trees and power lines are just part of the expected disruptions, which are taking up most of the eastern coast from Nova Scotia all the way down to Bermuda.
Perspective of the size of Hurricane Lee 🌀
Long Island is 118 miles long. Lee is 5 times wider. pic.twitter.com/1TTfCbdcML
— Zoom Earth (@zoom_earth) September 14, 2023
Lee is still a significant sized hurricane, but is hovering within the western Atlantic at the time of writing. It’s unclear whether the system will stay off-shore, or move into the region as the weekend continues. Lee is currently moving at roughly 16 mph over the ocean, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 85 mph, accelerating northwards. (RELATED: Hurricane Lee Grows So Terrifyingly Huge, It Doesn’t Matter If It Makes Landfall. We’re In Trouble)
Those within Lee’s path have been told to avoid driving or going outdoors at all during the storm. While power outages are likely, residents were also told to monitor the media for emergency information.