Earl leaves thousands without power

Thousands ofAtlantic Canadiansremained without electricity Sunday, most of them in Nova Scotia, aftera fading Hurricane Earl blew ashore Saturday.

At 7:15 p.m.AT Sunday, amap on the Nova Scotia Power website showed power outages stretching from Chester, N.S.,about50 kilometres west ofHalifax, tothe vicinity ofCape Breton Highlands National Park.

Nova Scotia Power spokeswoman Stacy Pineau said some people may not have their power restored until Monday, butmost would have it back by late Sunday.

More than 200,000customers were without power during the worst of the outages on Saturday, with about 90,000 of those seeing electricity restored by 10 p.m., Nova Scotia Power said.

Eighteentrucks and 36 linemen from New Brunswick's power utility NB Power travelled to Nova Scotia to help Sunday morning.

Powerremained out near Corner Brook, N.L.,after Earl downgraded tostorm status hit Newfoundlandovernight. The southwestern coast of Newfoundland registered wind gusts of up to 129 km/h just after midnight Sunday.

Corner Brook, on the west coast, received gusts of up to 96 km/h. The Newfoundland Power website said power outages in the region could continue till 1 a.m. Monday.

The hurricane hit Nova Scotia's south shore atLunenburg Countyat about 11 a.m. AT Saturday before being downgraded to a tropical storm.It brought heavy rains andstrong winds, with the highest gust clocked at 135 km/h.

Some areas of New Brunswick received 75 millimetres of rain fromEarl andan unrelated cold front that moved in shortly afterward. Kentville, N.S., received 40 millimetresand Charlottetown30 millimetres.

Swimmerdrowns

A man drowned nearProspect, N.S.,west of Halifax, during the storm.

Johnny Mitchell Jr., 54,and a friend swam from shore at Blind Bayto try to secure a boat at about1 p.m. AT. Once they arrived, the waters were too rough to get back, even though the men weren't far from shore, police said.

RCMP spokeswoman Const. Tamu Bracken said they started the boat's motorbut decided to wait for the storm to subside. Eventually, Mitchell leaped back into the powerful waves, which were pushed by winds gusting to 100 km/h.

He was wearing a life-jacket but it wasn't enough to save him.

"While he was in the water he ran into some difficulty and called for help, at which time one of his relatives went out and attempted to help him out of the water," she said. "But unfortunately, he was deceased when they pulled him out of the water."

The other man made it back to shore without injury.

Police say this is the only death related to Hurricane Earl that they are aware of.

Alineman in Sydney was injured when strong winds blewpower lines around him while he was in his lift. Another worker on the ground quicklycut the power, and thelineman was rushed toCape Breton Regional Hospital. The extent of his injures was not immediately known.

Minor damage in P.E.I.

At thestorm's height onPrince Edward Island, winds were gusting just over 80 km/h, with winds of 113 km/h recorded on the Confederation Bridge. High-sided vehicles and motorcycles were barred from crossing for six hours.

The storm damaged some trees and caused minor flooding.

At its worst, 9,000 homes and businesses on the Island were without power, though most had service quickly restored. Ferries were cancelled and three flights at the Charlottetown airport had to be cancelled.

Swimming was bannedin P.E.I. National Park. But as the storm moved in, Matt MacIvor took a dip in the ocean against the advice of surfguards.

"There's a risk crossing the street, isn't there?" he said. "Like I said, once in a lifetime opportunity."

In New Brunswick, the stormcausedminor power outages and some ferry and flight cancellations.

By mid-afternoon Sunday the remnants of the stormwere in the North Atlantic, absorbed into another low-pressure system.