Rain and wind: former Saskatchewan woman describes Hurricane Dorian

Hunkering down, watching as Hurricane Dorian hit her little bit of Nova Scotia — it’s a situation a lot different than when Kate Peardon lived in Saskatchewan.

She lived in Regina and Saskatoon for several years but now lives outside Halifax. She had to deal with the hurricane, which by then was classified as a tropical storm, as it hit the east coast on Saturday.

“It was mostly rain with gusts of wind, so you’re just kind of sitting in the house — I’ve got quite a few trees on our property — so you’re just watching the trees bend going, ‘Please don’t break, please don’t break, please don’t break,’ ” said Peardon.

She said on the coast there was a lot more wind, with gusts around 120 kilometres per hour, or even up to 140 km/h.

Peardon’s power went out Saturday afternoon and wasn’t restored until about mid-day on Sunday. Thousands remained in the dark at that time.

She was prepared for the storm. Peardon said she filled a bunch of water bottles, got propane and brought outdoor furniture inside. She said since the hurricane in 2003, people got a lot better about preparing and listening to warnings in Nova Scotia.

“You don’t know how strong it’s going to be, but sort of prep for the worst and if nothing happens, big deal,” said Peardon.

She woke up Sunday morning around 5 a.m. and went outside with a flashlight to check out the damage. She said there were some trees down in their woods but they didn’t fall on anything.

Speaking in the early afternoon, Peardon could hear a bunch of chainsaws in the neighbourhood and said it’ll be a week of cleaning up for people around the area.

Crews started the cleanup across Nova Scotia on Sunday, trying to pick up debris and raise downed power lines; about 400,000 people were stuck without power because of the storm.

New Brunswick and PEI were also hit by Hurricane Dorian, damaging buildings and cutting off power to thousands there as well.

— With files from The Canadian Press