As Hurricane Lee churned closer to coastal New England on Friday, with winds expected to intensify overnight, cruise ships sought refuge in Portland, Maine, and homeowners in Provincetown, Mass., piled sandbags.
An arborist in Halifax, Nova Scotia, fielded dozens of calls from residents expecting tree damage. And in Sandwich, the oldest town on Cape Cod, John Crobar, a fisherman working at the marina, hoped out loud that he would be able to track down his 150 lobster traps after the storm passed.
Yet, like others in a region accustomed to powerful nor’easters, if not hurricanes, Mr. Crobar was not particularly fazed by what was coming.
“We like to sensationalize the weather, but it’s just a natural part of the earth,” he said.
The immense storm, tracked offshore for more than a week as it slowly slogged northward through the Atlantic, prompted tropical storm warnings for millions…
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