Powerful Hurricane Fiona roars towards Bermuda and then Canada

Hurricane Fiona pounded Bermuda with heavy rains and winds early Friday on its way to northeastern Canada, where it was forecast to approach late in the day as a still-powerful storm. AP reports that Bermuda authorities opened shelters and closed schools and offices ahead of Fiona’s arrival.

Coastal areas of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland were under a hurricane watch issued by the Canadian Hurricane Centre. Fiona is expected to generate hurricane-force winds within the area, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

As Fiona, a Category 4 hurricane, swept by Bermuda in the early hours of Friday, it was expected to approach northeastern Canada late in the day as a powerful storm. So far, Fiona has been blamed for at least five deaths – two in Puerto Rico, two in the Dominican Republic, and one in Guadeloupe, a French island.