One person died in Maine after Lee brought strong winds and heavy rain to parts of New England

At least one person was subsequently confirmed dead for me It brought strong winds, heavy rain and dangerous storm surge to parts of New England and southeastern Canada this weekend when it made landfall as a post-tropical cyclone.

Lee made landfall on Saturday in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia with strong winds approaching hurricane force, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center. Meteorologists said at the time that the storm came ashore with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph. That was just a few miles away from the threshold needed for a tropical storm to be considered a storm Category 1 hurricanewhich is set when maximum sustained winds reach 75 mph.

A 51-year-old man died Saturday in Searsport, Maine, a coastal town and seaport about 50 miles from Bar Harbor, after a large tree branch fell on his car and brought down power lines with it, CBS affiliate WABI-TV reported. and CBS affiliate WABI-TV. The Associated Press reported, citing Searsport police. CBS News independently confirmed one person’s death through a police message on Saturday, though it did not provide details on how it happened.

According to WABI, the accident occurred as the man was driving along Route 1 near Prospect Street at around 9 a.m. ET Saturday morning, which coincided with strong winds sweeping through the area as Lee arrived. Emergency personnel who responded to the scene had to wait for Central Maine Power crews to cut power to downed lines before they could extricate the man from his car, according to the station and The Associated Press. Authorities have not publicly identified the man, who died after being transported to a local hospital.

CBS News contacted the Searsport Department of Public Safety on Sunday for more information about the death but did not receive an immediate response.

Maine State Police urged people to “stay alert” while driving Saturday, warning of the potential for downed trees and debris caused by Lee’s winds in a Facebook post. The post included a photo of a shattered windshield caught by part of a tree, belonging to an Ohio man who was driving south on Route 11 in Morrow Plantation when he “noticed a large tree that was falling in the road.” The state police force said. The top of the tree broke through the windshield, and the impact caused part of it to break off inside the truck. The driver was slightly injured in the accident, and five other passengers inside the truck were not injured.

Lee’s strength rapidly intensified as it moved northward across the Atlantic Ocean last week, and is growing Category 5 hurricane Before the wind speed gradually decreases throughout the week. Although the storm did not make landfall until Saturday, it generated life-threatening surf and disrupted current conditions for several days along a wide section of the US East Coast. Various storm watches and warnings were in effect for coastal parts of Maine, New Hampshire, and the Canadian maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, as the storm moved into Nova Scotia. A tropical storm warning has been canceled for Maine on Saturday evening.

The storm’s maximum sustained winds had dropped to 44 mph by Sunday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center. In a bulletin issued at 8 a.m. ET, meteorologists said Hurricane Lee was expected to accelerate as it moves northeast over the next few days, reaching Newfoundland Sunday afternoon and into Atlantic waters by Monday morning.