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Hurricane leaves 138,000 without power in Canada

The storm struck Canada Saturday.

By Ed Adamczyk
A satellite view of Hurricane Arthur as a Category 2 hurricane. UPI/NOAA
A satellite view of Hurricane Arthur as a Category 2 hurricane. UPI/NOAA | License Photo

FREDERICTON , New Brunswick, July 7 (UPI) -- Two days after a downgraded Hurricane Arthur struck Canada's easternmost provinces, 138,000 New Brunswick and Nova Scotia residents remain without power.

In Fredericton, N.B., 45,350 customers were without power, and local fire crews fought 30 separate electrical fires after the storm, downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, passed through Saturday. Filling stations quickly ran out of gasoline, a sinkhole formed by the storm in a recreational vehicle park captured three trailers and a car, and the local utility company, NB Power, said the storm created the largest electrical blackout in New Brunswick's history.

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The storm brought rain, 143 millimeters (5.625 inches) Saturday in St. Stephens, N.B., and winds with gusts up to 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph).

"The target now is to have 80 per cent of our customers restored within five days. That is quite exceptional considering the damage; 2,000 trees in Fredericton alone and we estimate tens of thousands of trees across the province," Gaetan Thomas, NB Power president, told Canada's CBC on Monday.

The storm lost its intensity after it struck North Carolina as a Category 2 hurricane, and proceeded up the east coast of North America.

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No serious injuries were reported, but the uprooted trees and broken tree limbs blocked many streets in Fredericton and other communities.

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