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Hurricane Larry leaves tens of thousands without power in Newfoundland, Canada

Hurricane Larry washed out a stretch of the road on Route 90 at St. Vincent's. Photo courtesy of Newfoundland and Labrador's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure/Twitter
Hurricane Larry washed out a stretch of the road on Route 90 at St. Vincent's. Photo courtesy of Newfoundland and Labrador's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure/Twitter

Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Hurricane Larry hit Newfoundland early Saturday, leaving tens of thousands in the dark.

The Category 1 storm with heavy winds, intense rain and storm surge cut power through the eastern past of the Canadian province, including the capital St. John's and surrounding areas, CBC News reported.

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Before the storm moved away from the area, about 60,000 Newfoundland Power customers lost electricity, which the power company said was restored by noon for more than half.

The company added that its full workforce will be out repairing damage Saturday, and urged people to stay home while crews assess damaged areas.

"Hurricane Larry caused a significant amount of tree and property damage throughs the City of St. John's," a city statement said.

The City of St. John's asked residents to stay off roads "unless for essential reasons," as city crews "clean up streets, sidewalks, parks and open spaces."

Major parks, including Bannerman Park, Victoria Park and Bowring Park were closed because of debris that needed to be removed, the City of St. John's statement said.

"The priority for city crews at this time is to address streets and major road hazards," the statement added.

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The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary tweeted roads on the Northeast Avalon were covered in debris with officers identifying down trees and powers lines in the region, and urged the public to stay off of roads to minimize any public safety risk.

Newfoundland and Labrador's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure also specifically advised the public to avoid Route 90 at St. Vincent's on the Avalon as a stretch of the road was washed out. The same department urged caution at Route 92 at North Harbour, which remained reduced to one lane as crews mobilized to clear debris from the area.

Following the RNC's advisory, Metrobus Transit halted service.

Social media footage showed that the storm extensively damaged the performance tent near Quidi Vidi Lake for the Iceberg Alley Performance Test concert festival, CBC reported, and the April Wine concert planned for Friday evening was canceled due to the storm.

Saturday night's performance of Alan Doyle, Matt Mays and The Fine Lads, was also canceled.

"Refund information will be available in the coming days," the festival group said in a statement. "Crews are currently accessing the extent of damages. The future of additional performance is to be determined."

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John Brown, a superintendent of Torbay Estates apartment building in St. John's, told CBC News that bricks fell off the exterior wall at about 1:30 a.m. and smashed on top of two vehicles.

In the town of Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, Mayor Philip Wood tweeted that there was damage to the town's softball field and asked residents to stay away as the area is cleaned.

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