HALIFAX - Hurricane Irene is "quite likely" to have some sort of impact on Eastern Canada this weekend or early next week, the Canadian Hurricane Centre predicted Wednesday
But the centre said it was too early to say how the storm will affect the region, as its track and intensity can change.
The centre's first statement on the storm came as the governments of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick issued statements of their own, reminding people to be prepared with food and water in the event a major storm hits.
Irene became a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday as it churned over the Bahamas, meaning it packed winds in excess of 176 kilometres per hour.
Some major resorts in the Bahamas set up emergency shelters and store owners boarded up their windows. Nassau's downtown is known to flood even in heavy rain so the storm surge was expected to make many roads impassable, especially in the colonial downtown.
There were long lines to catch planes before the airport closed as some tourists had no choice but to leave since smaller hotels abruptly closed and larger ones were booked up with Bahamian residents looking for a place to ride out the storm. Others flying out simply didn't want to take their chances with what could be a major storm.
The storm uprooted trees, blew shingles off roofs and knocked several lampposts down as it crossed the southern Mayaguana Island, which left the entire island without power, said police Insp. Vernon Rahming.
On Great Inagua Island, the storm downed power lines but did little else, said George Harris, who operates a small radio station called Coast 106 FM.
"I don't anticipate much damage," he said. "Building structures are pretty much in good shape."
Irene is expected to become a Category 4 hurricane by Thursday as it passes over the northwestern Bahamas en route to the eastern U.S. coast, said the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.
Puerto Rico was struggling with heavy flooding that stranded motorists and affected several neighbourhoods. Dozens of landslides were reported and 765 people were in shelters, Gov. Luis Fortuno told a news conference Wednesday, two days after he declared a state of emergency.
In the Dominican Republic, flooding stranded at least 85 communities and nearly 32,000 people were evacuated. Emergency crews equipped with life-jackets and ropes rescued families whose homes were flooded by a swollen river in the city of San Cristobal, just west of the capital.
