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Hurricane Igor Hits Canada With Heavy Rains
 Associated Press
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September 21, 2010
St. John's, Newfoundland - Hurricane Igor pelted eastern Canada with strong winds and heavy rain Tuesday, flooding communities, washing out roads and stranding some residents in their homes. In the Pacific, a mild tropical storm formed and was expected to cross the Mexican resort area of Baja California later in the day.
Forecasters issued a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch for Igor on the coast of Newfoundland, on Canada's eastern coast.
"This is not your normal heavy rainfall flooding. It's having a major impact," said Chris Fogarty, of the Canadian Hurricane Centre. He said more than 200 millimeters (8 inches) of rain have already fallen in some regions in the past few hours.
Dennis Shea of the province's Emergency and Fire Services office said several communities have been cut off by high water and in some cases boats have been used to rescue people from their own homes.
There have been no reports of injuries or fatalities.
The Pacific tropical storm, Georgette, had maximum sustained winds near 40 mph (65 kph), but weakening was expected once it moves inland over the Baja California peninsula later Tuesday. It was located about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on Tuesday morning and was moving north-northwest near 9 mph (15 kph). A tropical storm warning was issued for southern Baja California.
Along eastern Canada, Igor was transforming to a post-tropical storm, which has a different structure from a hurricane but still packs the same punch, Fogarty said.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Wayne Edgecombe said heavy rains that flooded a key bridge in southern Newfoundland have left the Burin Peninsula's 20,000 residents cut off from the rest of the province. Edgecombe said roads all over the peninsula have been washed out or submerged, but so far there have been no major crises.
Igor doggedly stayed just above hurricane strength, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph). On Tuesday, the storm center was about 155 miles (290 kilometers) south-southwest of Cape Race in Newfoundland and moving to the northeast near 40 mph (65 kph), the Canadian Hurricane Centre said.
Schools have been closed and some flights at the St. John's International Airport have been delayed or canceled. The Canadian company Husky Energy evacuated workers from two semi-submersible drilling rigs working the White Rose offshore oil field, spokeswoman Colleen McConnell said.
"We're as ready as we possibly can be ready," said Dennis O'Keefe, the mayor of St. John's, Newfoundland.
Igor left behind power outages, grounded boats and downed trees in Bermuda and kicked up dangerous surf on the U.S. Atlantic coast. After brushing past Bermuda, which escaped major damage, Igor veered away from the United States, but forecasters said it could still cause high surf and dangerous rip currents along U.S. beaches.
A 21-year-old man died while surfing in the storm-churned waves off Surf City, North Carolina, where he was pulled from the water Sunday afternoon. Last week, high surf kicked up by Igor swept two people out to sea in the Caribbean — one in Puerto Rico and another in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Meanwhile far out in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Lisa formed early Tuesday with winds near 40 mph (65 kph). The storm is located about 530 miles (850 kilometers) west-northwest of the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa.
Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
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