Hurricane Larry wipes out power, trees and fishing wharves across Newfoundland

Photo: The Canadian Press

The roof of Mary Queen of Peace elementary school was torn off after Hurricane Larry crossed over Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula in the early morning hours, in St. John's, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly

UPDATE 2:30 p.m.

The City of St. John's is asking residents to stay home out of it — as the Newfoundland and Labrador saying goes — so crews can clean up the torn branches, downed power lines and scattered debris flung about the streets by hurricane Larry.

The storm made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane along the southern coast of the island at 11:45 p.m. Atlantic time on Friday, bringing sheets of rain and sustained winds of up to 130 km/h across the Avalon Peninsula, which includes the provincial capital of St. John's. Wind gusts reached at speeds as high as 182 km/h, according to measurements at the Cape St. Mary's Lighthouse.

The winds resulted in massive storm surges that brought waves up onto the road in places such as St. Vincent's, a popular spot to watch whales along the southern Avalon. In St. John's, the streets were lined with branches torn from trees, debris pried from houses and, in the Rabbittown neighborhood, a tossed-about easy chair.

"Hurricane Larry caused a significant amount of tree and property damage throughout our city," said St. John's Mayor Danny Breen said at a news conference Saturday.

Still, he said, "it could have been a lot worse."

Larry came barreling across the Atlantic and up into Placentia Bay, a wide expanse of water separating the Avalon Peninsula from the rest of the island, just as high tide set in. The storm surges combined with the high water levels wreaked havoc in some of the coastal communities along Placentia Bay.

Alex Best woke up Saturday morning to find his wharf in Southern Harbour had just about washed away -- and it almost took his boat with it.

The 86-year-old retired fisherman said he hasn't seen high water conditions like those wrought by Larry in many decades.

"Our environment's going so bad, I mean that's what's causing us to have so may storms so often now," he said in a phone interview Saturday. "And we're not doing anything to fix it, either -- only letting it get worse all the time."

Sitting on his deck Saturday and surveying the damage, Best said he's taking it all in stride.

"One day at a time," he said. "As long as you're able to get up and go, that's the main thing."

Along the western coast of Placentia Bay, in Marystown, the fire department had to evacuate two houses because the water was creeping up to their front doors, said Fire Chief Justin Bolt. "Residents in that area hadn't experienced the water to that height from previous storms," he said. "There was a personal wharf in that area that they just managed to secure to prevent it from going afloat."

Larry felt comparable to hurricane Igor, Bolt said, which caused widespread damage across the island in 2010 and even swept a man out to sea.

Back in St. John's, nearly 10,000 people in the area were still without power on Saturday evening, Newfoundland Power's website said. Earlier in the day, more than 30,000 in the metro region were in the dark. The winds tore part of the roof of Mary Queen of Peace Elementary School and it lay in a heap of siding and nail-riddled boards some distance away. A huge blue tent set up along Quidi Vidi lake to house a music festival was stripped to its frame, and the road-facing windows were shattered in an empty building in the nearby Rawlins Cross intersection.

ORIGINAL 7 a.m.

People in eastern Newfoundland woke up Saturday to streets littered with branches and debris, torn and tossed around by the ferocious winds of hurricane Larry.

Larry made landfall as a Category 1 storm just after midnight Friday along the southern coast of the island, bringing sheets of rain and sustained winds of 130 km/h across the Avalon Peninsula, which includes the provincial capital of St. John's.

The city's streets were lined with fallen branches Saturday morning, and trees were uprooted and overturned on many lawns.

A small crowd gathered around Mary Queen of Peace elementary school Saturday, shaking their heads slowly as fragments of the school's shredded roof whipped around in the remaining winds. A large part of the roof was blown clear off the building and lay in a heap of siding and nail-riddled boards on the ground some distance away.

As of 10 a.m., nearly 30,000 people in the St. John's region were still without power, Newfoundland Power's website said. But the lights and coffee makers were on at a Tim Horton's near the Rooms provincial art gallery, and the lineup to get a morning coffee snaked through the restaurant and out the door.

Brandon Snook was outside the coffee shop with his infant son, Myles, as his wife grabbed a few cups inside. They didn't have any power to make their own, he said.

Myles slept through the entire night, Snook said, clearly impressed. "My sister, her little little one lost her play house," he said. "It got smashed up against the house in about two million pieces."

His own house made it through OK, he said -- just a bit of siding peeled loose.

An empty building nearby in the Rawlins Cross intersection wasn't so lucky; several of its traffic-facing windows were shattered in their frames, leaving the inside of the building completely exposed.

Up the street, parts of the green iron fencing surrounding the Basilica Cathedral had fallen down and several of the massive structures windows were missing.

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary urged pedestrians and drivers across the peninsula to stay home as officers swept the area to report fallen trees and power lines.

Newfoundland Power, meanwhile, assured those in the dark that crews had been out since daybreak to work on the power lines.