Though some modern researchers catalogued the system as a hurricane on its final approach to Nova Scotia, the official Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project found no conclusive evidence of hurricane-force winds in Canada. In the early morning hours of August 22, the storm made landfall in Nova Scotia via St. Margarets Bay, as an extratropical cyclone. Its northeasterly path placed greater Halifax in the typically intense right-front quadrant of the storm center; this would not be repeated until Hurricane Juan in 2003. After rapidly crossing Nova Scotia, the extratropical system impacted the island of Newfoundland. Its remnants continued eastward into the North Atlantic for several more days; its documented course ends on August 25. The intensifying hurricane brought stormy conditions to the Lesser Antilles from Martinique to the Virgin Islands. In Saint Thomas, boats and docks were damaged, trees were blown down, and houses were unroofed. For the first time in Puerto Rico's history, warning flags were used to alert the public of the approaching hurricane. Officials in San Juan first hoisted cautionary red flags during the mid-morning on August 16, upgraded three hours later to more urgent yellow and blue signals, and finally to black flags to mark the cyclone's onslaught. By mid-afternoon the Port of San Juan was closed; although orders were given to evacuate ships from the port, the short notice and lack of available tugboats meant some vessels had to ride out the storm at anchor, exposed to the elements. Ships at dock were required to be unloaded of their cargo. When the severity of the hurricane became clear, local officials ensured moorings were secure and orchestrated the positioning of ships to minimize risk of collisions. Bus and tram services were suspended as conditions worsened, leaving many residents unable to reach their homes for the night. On the night of August 16–17, winds of and were recorded in San Juan and Mayagüez, respectively, before both recording anemometers were blown away. It was the long duration of the storm, rather than its intensity alone, which made it so destructive. The northern coast suffered most as the storm wrought havoc on crops, telegraph infrastructure, and buildings of varying construction quality. Poorly built shacks and huts, the residences of impoverished workers, fared the worst. In Camuy, the storm destroyed up to 20 houses, uprooted trees, and sparked two small fires; in the aftermath, the mayor appointed a special commission to facilitate the transfer of relief funds to storm victims.