Hurricane Kyle spins past Maine Tropical storm warnings in effect for parts of state

MACHIAS – Fishermen moved boats to shelter from a rare burst of tropical weather along Maine’s rugged eastern coast Sunday as a weakening Hurricane Kyle spun past on its way to Canada, threatening a glancing blow equivalent to a classic nor’easter.

A hurricane watch for Maine was discontinued Sunday, but a tropical storm warning remained in effect from Stonington, at the mouth of Penobscot Bay, to Eastport on the Canadian border, the National Hurricane Center said. The Canadian Hurricane Centre issued a hurricane warning for parts of southwestern Nova Scotia, with tropical storm warnings for parts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

The Category 1 storm’s track was expected to bring its center ashore in southwestern Nova Scotia late Sunday, but by then it is expected to have less than hurricane strength, said Peter Bowyer of the Canadian center in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

There were no immediate plans for evacuations in Maine, although residents were warned of potential power outages and interruptions in ferry services to islands.

Heavy rain lashed the state Sunday for a third straight day. As much as 5.5 inches had fallen already along coastal areas. Flood watches were in effect for the southern two-thirds of New Hampshire and southern Maine through Sunday evening.

Maine emergency responders had been bracing for wind gusts as high as 60 mph and waves up to 20 feet, but as the storm pushed toward the Maritime Provinces, it became clear that the state was escaping a direct hit.

Officials still expect strong winds and “the attendant power outages,” Lynette Miller, spokeswoman for the Maine Emergency Management Agency, said Sunday evening. “We’re cautiously optimistic that things will not be as bad as we originally feared.”

Residents of the Down East area are accustomed to rough weather, but it most often comes in the winter when nor’easters howl along the coast. Maine hasn’t had anything like a hurricane since Bob was downgraded as it moved into the state in 1991 after causing problems in southern New England.

While residents took precautions, many weren’t impressed by Kyle.

“It probably won’t be much different than a nor’easter except we don’t have to deal with the snow,” said Jesse Davis of Marshfield, who planned to ride out the wind and rain at home with his wife and 2-month-old daughter. He gassed up his vehicles and generator, took in his deck furniture and filled up water jugs, but said that’s what he does for any big storm.

“Down East we get storms with 50 to 60 mph winds every winter. Those storms can become ferocious,” said Washington County Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Hinerman. Down East is the rugged, sparsely populated area from about Bar Harbor to the Canadian border.

Many lobstermen moved their boats to sheltered coves, said Dwight Carver, a lobsterman on Beals Island. Some also moved lobster traps from shallow water.

“I’m sure we’ll have a lot of snarls, a lot of mess, to take care of when it’s done,” Carver said. “It’ll take us a few days to straighten things out.”

In Lubec, the easternmost town in the U.S., town workers pulled up docks and fishermen moved boats across the harbor into Campobello Island, New Brunswick, which has coves and wharves that offer shelter.

At 5 p.m. EDT Sunday, Kyle was centered about 180 miles southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia, the National Hurricane Center said. It was moving toward the north-northeast at nearly 25 mph and was expected to continue that track for the next day or so.

Kyle’s maximum sustained wind was blowing at nearly 75 mph, just barely hurricane strength. The storm was expected to lose its tropical characteristics late Sunday or early Monday.

Emergency Measures officials in New Brunswick were concerned that people living inland were not taking the storm warnings seriously enough.

“We’re talking to people on the street and they’re shrugging this off,” said spokesman Ernie MacGillvray.

He noted that the storm system was hundreds of miles wide. “They need to understand there’s going to be a whole bunch of impact and it could be a few days before phones and power is restored,” MacGillvray said.