500,000 lose power as unrelenting Dorian marches into Canada

Dorian lurched into Canada on Sunday, its unrelenting hurricane-force winds bowling over trees and power lines and knocking out electricity to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.

The storm made landfall for at least the fifth time on Saturday in Nova Scotia, the latest as a post-tropical cyclone still hurling 100 mph winds that equate to a Category 2 hurricane. The latest landfall came almost two weeks after a nascent Dorian rolled up on St. Lucia as a tropical storm. Days later it would decimate the Bahamas as a Category 5 hurricane.

Canada's Defense Ministry said up to 700 military personnel in Atlantic Canada were deploying to help restore power, clear main roadways and evacuate residents in flooded or severely damaged areas.

"The women and men of our @CanadianForces are always there to help Canadians in their time of need," Tweeted Harjit Sajjan, Canada's defense minister. "To those impacted by Hurricane Dorian, our Armed Forces will be there to aid you in this challenging time."

The storm was centered about 40 miles off the coast of Chevery, Quebec, on Sunday afternoon, still driving hurricane-level winds of about 75 mph. Dorian's days were numbered, however: The U.S. National Hurricane Center said it would soon roll into the Atlantic and within a couple days should be absorbed by another low-pressure system.

Nova Scotia Power CEO Karen Hutt said 400,000 customers were without power at the peak of the storm Saturday. Restoration was underway Sunday, but it could be several days before all power has been restored, she warned.

"Dorian has been the most impactful storm in Nova Scotia Power’s history," Hutt said. "We know there is a lot of work ahead of us, but we won’t stop working until every customer has power back."

A giant crane fell on a residential development under construction in Halifax, the provincial capital. Alex Glista told the Chronicle Herald he was watching the storm from a window when he saw the tumble.

"It kind of bent almost like spaghetti on top of it and there was a loud boom," Glista said. "You kind of were paralyzed as you watched it come down."

In New Brunswick province, about 80,000 NB Power customers lost power, the company said. At least 500 workers were working to bring it back.

In the town of Anse Bleu, people lost power for about 10 hours when the roof of an old garage blew onto the road and hit power lines.

"Big waves, and lots of wind and lots of rain," Hedard Cormier, who lives in Anse Bleu on the southern shore of Chaleur Bay, told the CBC. "A lot of people were scared."

Cormier said residents were shifting quickly into cleanup mode in a town where storms and storms and power outages were common.

"We're used to that," said Cormier. "I've seen worse for sure."

The death toll from Dorian in the Bahamas stood at 43 on Sunday, although officials warned that number would likely rise as emergency workers make their way into devastated communities. The storm made landfall three times there, lingering over the islands for more than a day and a half.

The storm took a parallel track off the East Coast, bringing heavy winds, rain and some flooding to South Carolina before making landfall Friday on North Carolina's barrier islands. Some power outages were reported, and cleanup was underway over the weekend.

"Folks in Emerald Isle are beginning to put their lives back together today," Gov. Roy Cooper said during a visit Saturday. "We’re thankful that no one was seriously hurt and we’ll be with them during this process."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hurricane Dorian: 500,000 lose power in Canada as storm rolls on