Hurricane Lee targets New England and eastern Canada with wind, roiling seas and rain

Fishermen removed lobster traps from the water and residents hauled hundreds of boats ashore leaving some harbors looking like ghost towns ~ while utility workers from as far away as Tennessee began taking up positions Friday ahead of Hurricane Lee's heavy winds, high seas and rain that's expected to span hundreds of miles (kilometers) of land and sea.

The storm is projected to be more than 400 miles (640 kilometers) wide with tropical-storm-force winds when it reaches land, creating worries of power outages in Maine, the nation's most heavily forested state, where the ground is saturated and trees from heavy are weakened summer rains.

Lee remained a hurricane with 80 mph (128 kph) winds at night as it headed toward New England and eastern Canada with 20-foot (6-meter) ocean swells, strong winds and rain. Forecasters said there would be winds topping 40 mph (64 kph) across the region, with peak winds reaching upward of 65 mph (104 kph), ahead of landfall expected Saturday afternoon.

There was little else to be done but wait and worry, and make final preparations as Lee spun about 300 miles (485 kilometers) southeast of Nantucket, Massachusetts.