Wilma remnants to douse Atlantic Canada

Environment Canada’s Canadian Hurricane Centre expects the remnants of Hurricane Wilma to hit the maritime provinces as a post-tropical low pressure system on Oct. 25.”Torrential rain and very high winds are likely to reach western parts of Nova Scotia Tuesday morning [October 25] and to spread to the rest of the province during the day,” the Canadian Hurricane Centre reports. “Winds gusting to 90 km-h are forecast for all of mainland Nova Scotia, with gusts as high as 110 km-h along the Atlantic Coast and over the Cape Breton Highlands.”The centre predicts rainfall amounts in excess of 50 millimetres over the western half of the province by the end of Oct. 25, with further amounts likely into Wednesday.”There is a potential for hurricane-force wind gusts of 120 km-h along the immediate Atlantic coastline Tuesday evening (Oct. 25),” Environment Canada warns. “Wind gusts will likely result in power outages from broken tree branches. Many trees, particularly in the urban areas of Nova Scotia, still contain leaves which would increase the likelihood of broken branches and power outages.”News of Hurricane Wilma’s course towards eastern Canada prompted warnings by insurers for residents to protect themselves. “It isn’t often that a hurricane severely impacts Canadians,” says a release by Royal & SunAlliance Canada. “However when the devastating storms maintain enough strength to hitnorth, they deliver quite a wallop.”