Arthur pelts Maine, moves into southeast Canada

Cyclone Arthur pelted parts of far eastern Maine and southeastern Canada with heavy rain and strong winds Saturday, as the storm that had been a hurricane swept away from southern New England.
Arthur, which weakened to a tropical storm, had earlier reached Category 2 hurricane status and made landfall on North Carolina's Outer Banks late on Thursday, snarling plans for tourists at the start of the Fourth of July holiday weekend, according to a news agency.
North Carolina reported only slight damage from the hurricane, which quickly traveled northeast and on Saturday morning was centered about 50 miles (80 km) north-northwest of the Canadian town of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
"It has lost some strength, although it still has 65 mph winds," said Daniel Brown, a senior hurricane specialist at the U.S. National Hurricane Center. "Basically, it lost its tropical characteristics and has become more a wintertime type low."
The storm was moving to the north-northeast at about 23 mph (37 kph) at 8 a.m. Eastern Time and was expected to slow down and weaken over the next day or more, the center said.
Arthur was the first hurricane to hit the United States since Superstorm Sandy devastated New York and New Jersey in October 2012, causing an estimated $70 billion in damage.
In Maine, some communities reported power outages and trees down, but no injuries, said Dustin Jordan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Caribou, Maine.
The Weather Service received unofficial reports of nearly 5 inches of rain (12.7 cm) in the eastern tip of Maine.
Arthur hit landfall with top sustained winds of 100 mph (160 kph), earning a Category 2 status on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. It weakened to a Category 1 as it moved northeast into colder waters of the Atlantic Ocean with 90-mph (145-kph) top sustained winds.