Nova Scotians are once again preparing to weather the storm as Hurricane Lee bares down on the province.
Officials at Environment Canada are predicting Lee will make landfall somewhere between Southwest Nova Scotia and Southern New Brunswick on Saturday.
Lee will enter the region as a category 1 hurricane, diminishing to a tropical storm then a post tropical low as it makes landfall somewhere between Shelburne, NS and Grand Manan Island in NB.
Queens County is included in the hurricane watch which could see the slow-moving storm dump heavy rains up to 100mm and blow gusts of wind up to 120km/h.
Gale Storm warnings have been issued for southwestern marine areas beginning Friday bringing waves 15 to 20 feet (4-6 metres) high.
Closure announcements began Thursday morning.
Nova Scotia Provincial Parks are being closed at 1pm Friday, day use parks will close at 7pm.
Kejimkujik National Park is closing beginning Friday at noon. All reservations between the nights of Sep 15-19 are cancelled and campers will receive a refund. Park officials say an update on reopening will be provided Monday.
Many local events are also being postponed. Anyone with plans for Saturday in to Sunday should contact organizers to find out if the event is being rescheduled.
The Regional Emergency Management Organization advises everyone to be prepared to shelter in place for 72 hours.
That includes ensuring there’s enough food and water on hand to last three days for the entire household, including pets. People should gather batteries, flashlights and radios and charge electronics. Keep a list of all medications, gather irreplaceable items such as photo albums and make copies of important documents like insurance policies, deeds and titles.
An emergency preparedness checklist and many other helpful tips are available on the Region of Queens web page. Head to regionofqueens.com and click on the emergency measures tab at the top.
Environment Canada is continuing to track the path of Hurricane Lee and will be providing regular updates as it edges closer to the Maritimes.
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