Weather News

One dead as storm hits Canadian coast

At least one person has died as Tropical Storm Earl moved from the American eastern seaboard and slammed into Canada's Nova Scotia.

Although Earl has been downgraded from a hurricane, it was still packing 100 kilometre per hour winds when it struck Canada's east coast, toppling trees and power lines.

One man died when he and another made their way out to a boat that had slipped from its moorings near Halifax.

Once the vessel was reattached one of the men dived into the water to swim back, but he never surfaced.

Earl was a hurricane when it hit Nova Scotia, but weakened as it moved inland.

It still brought heavy rains and left roads littered with fallen trees and knocked out electricity to about 220,000 homes.

Scores of airline flights in and out of the region were cancelled, as were all ferry services.

- ABC

© ABC 2010

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