HALIFAX — As hurricane Igor lashed Bermuda on Sunday, forecasters in Canada warned residents of eastern Nova Scotia and much of Newfoundland to brace for heavy rain on Monday and Tuesday.
Environment Canada said the massive storm wasn’t expected to make landfall in Atlantic Canada.
Igor’s rain bands, however, were predicted to interact with a separate trough of low pressure over Newfoundland.
“While the centre of Igor is expected to pass well southeast of (Newfoundland’s) Avalon Peninsula later on Tuesday, it is expected to spread heavy rain across much of the province during the day,” the Canadian Hurricane Centre in a statment.
Meanwhile, Calgary-based Husky Energy started to evacuate two semi-submersible drill rigs working the White Rose offshore oilfield.
Spokeswoman Colleen McConnell said all 88 workers aboard the GFS Grand Banks were removed from the rig by Sunday.
As well, the 110 workers aboard the Henry Goodrich were expected to be airlifted to St. John’s, N.L., by Monday.
The company’s floating production platform, the Sea Rose, had 88 people aboard on Saturday. Some were removed Sunday and others were expected to follow Monday, McConnell said.
Rainfall warnings were issued for parts of southern Newfoundland.
Across the province, residents can expect between 50 and 100 millimetres of rain. However, some areas could get swamped by 150 millimetres Tuesday.
As well, gusts exceeding 90 kilometres per hour could affect parts of the Avalon, the centre said.
Large ocean swells have already reached Nova Scotia’s Atlantic coastline and southern Newfoundland.
These swells are expected to grow for the next few days, with hurricane-force winds possible across the southeastern Grand Banks.