Lee, which was downgraded from a hurricane to a post-tropical cyclone early Saturday, brought gusty winds, rain and dangerous surf conditions to coastal communities in New England early Saturday, as the center of the much-anticipated storm approached landfall near the U.S.-Canadian border. As Lee inched closer on Friday, Maine opened emergency shelters, residents in New England were urged to secure their boats ashore and Nova Scotia urged preparations for power outages and floods. Early Saturday, tropical-storm-force winds, which forecasters warned could down trees and knock out power, were occurring in Massachusetts and Nova Scotia, the National Hurricane Center said. “Winds continue to be the biggest concern with Lee,” said the National Weather Service office in Portland, Maine, early Saturday. For more than a week, residents in eastern Canada and along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States have kept a wary eye on the slow-moving storm, which startled scientists earlier with how rapidly it had intensified and at one point led many people to worry that it could slam into the U.S. coast with devastating consequences.

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Persons: Lee, Lee inched, ” Organizations: U.S ., National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, Seaboard Locations: New England, U.S, , Maine, Nova Scotia, Massachusetts, Portland , Maine, Canada, United States