Miami, (AFP) - Canada counts Sunday the extent of the devastation left by the passage of Hurricane Fiona , while the US state of Florida and Cuba prepare for the arrival of Storm Ian soon, which may turn into a "very strong hurricane."

The US National Hurricane Center said Ian could become a hurricane "this (Sunday) evening or morning" early Monday and "a very strong hurricane" on Monday evening or Tuesday morning before striking western Cuba.

The center of the hurricane is considered "very strong" when it is accompanied by winds of no less than 178 kilometers per hour, meaning categories 3, 4 and 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

And Fiona, who is becoming windy and gradually weakening as she heads north, sows destruction on Canada's Atlantic coast, while a woman is considered missing, and about 300,000 homes are still without electricity on Sunday.

"In the end it was the storm that caused the most damage so far," Tim Houston, Premier of Nova Scotia, one of the hardest-hit provinces, told CBC News.

Hurricane Fiona killed at least seven people last week, four in Puerto Rico, two in the Dominican Republic and one in Guadeloupe, France.

The US state of Florida and Cuba are preparing for the arrival of Tropical Storm Ian.

The US National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning for Cuba and expected "significant repercussions" in the west of the island.

On Sunday, the center predicted that storm Ian would turn into a "very strong" hurricane in the next 24 or 48 hours, which would cause "devastating" damage to homes, uproot trees and negatively affect the distribution of water and electricity.

Ian is expected to ascend across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida, which has begun to take precautionary measures.

The US Space Agency (NASA) canceled the launch of its rocket towards the moon from the Kennedy Space Center, located in this state in the southeastern United States.

US President Joe Biden declared a natural "state of emergency" in Florida, allowing federal aid to be allocated, while Republican Governor Ron DeSantis called on residents to "exercise caution."

Biden also abandoned a scheduled visit to Florida on Tuesday.

In several areas in Florida, the authorities began distributing sandbags to protect homes from the risk of flooding.

"Prepare now and don't wait until it's too late," tweeted Mayor Jane Castor of Tampa, which is located in Ian's path, according to the Hurricane Center.

A seventy-three-year-old woman was considered missing after she washed up in Chanel-Port-au-Basque in the Canadian province of Newfoundland, according to the city's mayor, Brian Bouton.

In this city, the storm destroyed more than 20 homes, and 200 people were evacuated, not all of whom will be able to return to their homes on Sunday.

"We need some time. The situation cannot return to normal in one day," Bouton wrote on Facebook Live, responding to impatient locals.

The city bears the traces of Fiona's passage, with rubble spread and iron barriers battered by heavy waves.

On Sunday, Canadian television showed scenes of long lines in front of a gas station located near Sydney, in Nova Scotia, in the east of the country, which was severely damaged.

The people of the region flocked to the stations to obtain fuel to feed the electricity generators.

Nova Scotia Power's director of electricity distribution, Peter Gregg, warned that some homes would remain without electricity for "many days".