A 51-year-old driver in Searsport, Maine, died after a large tree branch fell on his vehicle Saturday – the first known death from Tropical Storm Lee.
The unnamed man was driving on US 1, which winds along the coast of Maine from Portland to the town of Calais on the Canadian border.
The accident occurred 30 miles south of Bangor.
Searsport Police Chief Brian Lunt said the tree branch that smashed the man’s car brought down live lines and utility workers had to turn off the power before the man could be removed.
The man later died at a hospital, Lunt said.
Maine was inundated with rain Saturday evening: The town of Steuben, north of Bar Harbor, reported 5.7 inches by 6:30 p.m., the National Weather Service said.
Flash flood warnings were in effect around Belfast and Bar Harbor.
Heavy surf hits Otter Point in Acadia National Park, near Searsport, Maine. A man was killed by a falling tree branch in Searsport on Saturday
Tropical Storm Lee is visible in satellite images over Maine on Saturday
According to forecasters’ latest update, the center of the storm was just off the southwestern tip of Nova Scotia, about 105 miles southeast of Eastport, Maine
Earlier Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m., FEMA warned people to stay away from coastal areas due to possible storm surge.
“Storm surges of up to 3 feet are possible along the New England coast, while dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents continue,” the agency wrote on X.
“Do not be discouraged. Avoid coastal areas.’
Lee made landfall in far western Nova Scotia around 4 p.m. EST, the hurricane center said.
As of 5 p.m. EST, the center of the storm was about 80 miles south-southeast of Eastport, Maine, and about 150 miles west-southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The National Hurricane Center warned of hurricane-force winds extending more than 100 miles from Lee’s center, with smaller but still dangerous tropical-storm-force squalls up to 345 miles away.
The storm passed some of Massachusetts’ wateriest areas, which saw days of heavy rain earlier this week.
Drone footage taken after the storm passed over Long Island shows the devastation caused: Homes missing fixtures and roads blocked by water.
A state of emergency was declared for Massachusetts and Maine, the country’s most forested states, as heavy summer rains saturated the ground and weakened trees.
From Massachusetts to Maine, more than 100,000 people were without power early Saturday morning.
The storm was so large that it caused power outages several hundred miles from its center.
About 25 per cent of Nova Scotia was without power around midday Saturday.
This home on Tiana Beach in the Long Island town of Hampton Bays has lost portions of the patio space surrounding the property. The tide has pushed the sand further up the beach
Utilities reported nearly 200,000 customers without power from Maine to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia
Floodwaters inundated much of this road in the Hamptons, along Shinnecock Inlet, near Southampton
Utilities reported nearly 200,000 customers without power from Maine to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia’s largest airport, Halifax Stanfield International, had no arriving or departing flights Saturday.
Meanwhile, fourteen flights were canceled at Logan International Airport in Boston, four of which were delayed.
Images taken after the storm passed show tiles and fixtures ripped off waterfront homes after the storm passed through this morning.
The storm was so large that it caused power outages several hundred miles from its center. Pictured: Shinnecock Inlet, near Hampton Bays and Southampton, on Long Island
Large piles of sand are seen being pushed onto the main road near Shinnecock Inlet in New York
The storm completely destroyed the picket fences that lined the shores of Tiana Beach
The National Weather Service said this morning that the storm has now developed into a post-tropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds
Emergency lights remain on at a closed Circle K in Shelburne, Nova Scotia
Anticipating the storm’s impact, President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration for Maine and provided federal aid.
“We encourage everyone in the path of this large and dangerous storm to remain vigilant,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday.
Meteorologists are also warning that dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents continue to plague the U.S. East Coast.
Intensity models suggest Lee should gradually weaken, although maximum winds are still likely to reach hurricane strength or just below as its center reaches Nova Scotia.
Satellite images showed the enormous extent of the slowly advancing storm.
Videos surfaced on social media Saturday morning showing the devastating storm making landfall.
A video from Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts shows large waves crashing against the shore and hitting properties.
Other videos show impressive waves hitting Nauset Beach on Cape Cod Saturday morning.
Footage taken in the town of Marshfield shows large waves crashing into houses and cars.
Steve Makdessi is hit by winds from former Hurricane Lee, now a post-tropical cyclone, in Eastport, Maine, on Saturday
Charles Cantalupo is hit by winds from former Hurricane Lee in Eastport, Maine