FOG BLOG HURRICANE LARRY LOG: HURRICANE BLASTS THROUGH ST. JOHN'S NL, WIPING OUT TREES AND POWER:

Hurricane Larry wipes out power, trees and fishing wharves across Newfoundland...ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -- The City of St. John's is asking residents to stay home out of it -- as the Newfoundland and Labrador saying goes -- so crews can clean up the torn branches, downed power lines and scattered debris flung about the streets by hurricane Larry.

The storm made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane along the southern coast of the island at 11:45 p.m. Atlantic time on Friday, bringing sheets of rain and sustained winds of up to 130 km/h across the Avalon Peninsula, which includes the provincial capital of St. John's. Wind gusts reached at speeds as high as 182 km/h, according to measurements at the Cape St. Mary's Lighthouse.

The winds resulted in massive storm surges that brought waves up onto the road in places such as St. Vincent's, a popular spot to watch whales along the southern Avalon. In St. John's, the streets were lined with branches torn from trees, debris pried from houses and, in the Rabbittown neighborhood, a tossed-about easy chair......."Hurricane Larry caused a significant amount of tree and property damage throughout our city," said St. John's Mayor Danny Breen said at a news conference Saturday.

Still, he said, "it could have been a lot worse."

Larry came barreling across the Atlantic and up into Placentia Bay, a wide expanse of water separating the Avalon Peninsula from the rest of the island, just as high tide set in. The storm surges combined with the high water levels wreaked havoc in some of the coastal communities along..Placentia Bay.

Alex Best woke up Saturday morning to find his wharf in Southern Harbour had just about washed away -- and it almost took his boat with it.

The 86-year-old retired fisherman said he hasn't seen high water conditions like those wrought by Larry in many decades.

"Our environment's going so bad, I mean that's what's causing us to have so may storms so often now," he said in a phone interview Saturday. "And we're not doing anything to fix it, either -- only letting it get worse all the time."

Sitting on his deck Saturday and surveying the damage, Best said he's taking it all in stride.

"One day at a time," he said. "As long as you're able to get up and go, that's the main thing."