Battered Newfoundland digs out from Igor

ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Many roads remained closed Wednesday in Newfoundland after Canada's easternmost province was battered by Hurricane Igor.

The storm may have taken at least one life, The Telegram of St. John's reported. An 80-year-old man was swept out to sea on Random Island off the Bonavista Peninsula when a section of driveway collapsed.

The Trans-Canada Highway, which crosses the island from southwest to northeast, was closed in Terra Nova National Park. Officials said the highway might not reopen until Thursday night.

With Newfoundland's scanty road network, other closings left many places cut off.

Sgt. Boyd Merrill of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said bad weather hampered the search for the missing man with Random Island unreachable except by air or sea.

"The locals do what they've done for centuries," he said. "They look after what they can, and when they can get outside help for the community, then we'll support the ongoing efforts that are currently in place."

The storm, which hit Tuesday, brought both rain and high wind, Postmedia News reported. Marystown on the Burin Peninsula got almost 8 inches of rain.

"In my lifetime, I've never seen a storm like this," Mayor Sam Synard said. "The rain was almost ominous, it was violent."

The dissipating system was heading into the Canadian Arctic as a post-tropical storm Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported.