NU Online News Service, Sept. 19, 12:06 p.m. EDT
Maria made landfall on Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula as a “minimal Category 1 hurricane” late last week and quickly became an extratropical storm, according to AIR Worldwide.
The catastrophe modeler says Maria's path took it across a number of small towns along the Avalon Peninsula's coast. “The inland portion of the peninsula, which is about 40 miles wide at its widest, is a wilderness preserve,” AIR says, “St. John's lies at the northern end of the peninsula and was subjected to the storm's diminishing winds.”
In St. John, AIR says residential structures are largely wood frame buildings, while commercial buildings are predominately of reinforced concrete. The firm says downed trees and utility lines can be expected, but there should be no significant damage to buildings beyond roof coverings and cladding in some instances.
Maria took a long journey north off the U.S. East Coast before finally making landfall on the Avalon Peninsula.
Currently, according to the National Hurricane Center, there are no Atlantic tropical cyclones. A system moving west from the African coast has a 60 percent chance of developing into a tropical cyclone, the NHC says.
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