Hurricane Lee threatens New England, Canada with heavy rains

Millions of people in coastal New England and Eastern Canada prepared on Friday for the arrival of the storm. President Joe Biden on Thursday issued a state of emergency for Maine as the Category 1 storm continued to move north. Hurricane Lee was expected to calm down to a tropical storm before landing over the weekend somewhere between northeast Maine and the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. The storm was expected to still bring coastal flooding, heavy rain, and damaging wind, the National Hurricane Center said. Officials in Massachusetts and Rhode Island on Thursday issued tornado warnings and warned boaters to stay ashore.

Is the region prepared for more rain? Storms earlier in the week brought torrential rain to Massachusets and Rhode Island and triggered sinkholes and major flooding. Some areas received nearly 10 inches of rain in six hours. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey requested support from the Biden administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Dig deeper: Listen to Myrna Brown’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about how the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund is running out.