At about 9:00 pm local time (0000 GMT) the category one storm on the five level Saffir-Simpson scale, traveling at 24 kilometers (15 miles) per hour, struck a sparsely populated area just north of Yarmouth on the southern tip of Nova Scotia province, said the government agency.

It then tracked over the Bay of Fundy late in the evening, and was expected to reach Saint John, New Brunswick, home to 70,000 people, after midnight or early Monday morning.

With gusts of 120 kilometer (75 mile) per hour winds and heavy rains, most flights in and out of the provincial capital of Halifax were canceled or delayed, and electricity was out in parts of southern Nova Scotia.

Authorities warned of coastal flooding, downed power lines, and tree damage, as well as damage to structures from fallen trees.

"There are already a lot of power outages," said Charlotte Gabites of Environment Canada at close to midnight. Local media counted as many as 10,000 homes in eastern Canada without electricity.

In Yarmouth, the McClelland family told AFP by telephone rain was blowing sideways, but the storm seemed tame compared to the last hurricane that struck exactly five years ago.

Their son Pat, who works at the Halifax Airport, said he would "just throw some sandbags in the old Honda to make sure it doesn't blow away" on his ride home, with visibility low.

The military was called in to clean up the carnage left by category two Hurricane Juan in 2003, including the devastation of Point Pleasant Park.

The last hurricane to hit New Brunswick was in 1969.

Earlier, Kyle veered away from New England and sped its ripping winds and pounding rains straight toward southeastern Canada, according to the US National Hurricane Center.

The Maine Yacht Center in Portland, Maine, which had expected to take a beating from the storm if not a direct hit, said it had turned off the electricity and fuel lines at the marina, just in case.

"We've turned all the vessels toward the wind and right now there's no panic," dock master Alexandre Hofmann told AFP. "Boat owners keep calling to check on the marine forecaster reports," he said.

Kyle is the 11th named storm of the June-to-November Atlantic hurricane season this year, some of which have been deadly.

As Kyle crossed over the cold waters of the Bay of Fundy, it was expected to "weaken, then rapidly finish its transition into a post-tropical low" as it moved over southeastern New Brunswick, said the Canadian Hurricane Service.

"It will continue to weaken over the Gulf of St. Lawrence then dissipate over the eastern Quebec," it said, but not before likely dropping 50-100 millimeters (two-four inches) of rain on the region.

All storm warnings are expected to be lifted Monday, it said.