"The scale of what we're dealing with, I think it's unprecedented," Blair told Reuters in a telephone interview when asked how Fiona compared to Dorian, a storm that struck the region around Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 2019.

"There is going to be what I believe will likely be several months work in restoring some of the critical infrastructure - buildings and homes, rooftops that have been blown off community centers and schools," he added.

(Reporting by Steve Scherer; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)