Sunday, October 1, 2006

Forecasters are predicting that Hurricane Isaac could hit Atlantic Canada as early as next week. The provinces Nova Scotia and Newfoundland have been advised to monitor the progress of Isaac.

Forecasters said Isaac should stay to the east of Bermuda, but the Canadian Maritimes and Newfoundland could feel the outer edges of the storm.

“Some areas of Eastern Canada could feel the outer reaches of Isaac by sometime Monday or Tuesday. It was expected to strengthen slightly before then,” said hurricane specialist Eric Blake.

Three years ago the Maritimers suffered through Hurricane Juan. On September 29, 2003, in Nova Scotia, Juan killed two people, smashed buildings and left about 300,000 homes and businesses without power.

The Atlantic hurricane season began on June 1 and ends November 30. Isaac had top sustained winds near 75 kilometres per hour by 11 p.m. ET (UTC?5), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Isaac is the fifth hurricane and the ninth named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season.