Storm Lee made landfall in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia on Saturday afternoon with near hurricane strength, but not before bringing strong winds, violent waves and torrential rain to large parts of the country. of New England and coastal Canada, felling trees, flooding coastlines and cutting off power to tens of thousands of people.

A Maine motorist was killed when a branch fell on his vehicle, the first death attributed to Lee.

With sustained winds of 110 kilometers per hour (70 miles per hour), the center of the post-tropical cyclone made landfall about 215 kilometers (135 miles) west of Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, according to the National Hurricane Center. State Hurricanes (NHC). That point is about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of the town of Eastport, Maine, U.S. meteorologists said.

The storm is expected to weaken as it moves toward New Brunswick and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, they added.

In the United States, a tropical storm warning was in effect for a 370-kilometer (230-mile) stretch from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to the eastern tip of Maine. That included Bar Harbor, the tourist gateway to Acadia National Park, where a whale-watching boat broke loose from its mooring and crashed in front of the College of the Atlantic, a university in Bar Harbor.

Officials said the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Coast Guard were working to offload more than 1,800 gallons (6,800 liters) of diesel to prevent it from spilling into the ocean.

Lee flooded coastal roads and boats in Nova Scotia, downed power lines and trees and knocked ferries out of service, all while sowing anxiety in a region still reeling from wildfires and severe flooding in this summer. Nova Scotia’s largest airport, Halifax Stanfield International, had no arriving or departing flights scheduled for Saturday.

“People are exhausted… It’s so much in such a short time,” said Halifax City Councilor Pam Lovelace. “From a mental health perspective, we are asking people to check on their neighbors. »

A tropical storm warning was in effect for much of New Brunswick and all of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, as well as a hurricane watch for parts of New -Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Hurricane-force winds extended up to 140 miles (220 kilometers) from the center of Lee, and tropical storm-force winds had a range of up to 390 miles (630 kilometers), enough to cover all of Maine and a large part of the provinces. maritime of Canada.

The storm was so severe that it caused power outages several hundred kilometers from its center. As of midday Saturday, 11% of customers in Maine were without power, along with 27% in Nova Scotia, 8% in New Brunswick and 3% in Prince Edward Island.

A storm surge of 30 to 90 centimeters was forecast off the Maine coast, and the NHC warned it would be accompanied by large, destructive waves. The storm could drop up to 10 centimeters (4 inches) of rain in parts of Maine, Massachusetts, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick through Saturday evening, with the possibility of local flooding, officials said. forecasters said.

A 51-year-old motorist in Searsport, Maine, died after a large branch fell on his vehicle Saturday on U.S. Highway 1 during a period of high winds, the first fatality attributed to the storm.

The branch cut power lines and workers had to turn off the power before they could extricate the man from his car, Police Chief Brian Lunt said. The individual later died in hospital. His identity has not been revealed.

The storm bypassed some of the most waterlogged areas of Massachusetts, which suffered severe flash flooding days earlier, as fast-moving waters washed out roads, caused sinkholes, damaged homes and inundated vehicles.

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Sharp reported from Portland, Maine. Associated Press writers Robert Bumsted in Cape Elizabeth, Maine; Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine; Michael Casey in Boston; Rob Gillies in Toronto and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.