Hurricane Dorian may make landfall in Canada as a Category 1 or 2 hurricane.

Canadian Hurricane Centre (CHC) Meteorologist Bob Robichaud said the US' National Hurricane Center had rated the hurricane as a Category 2 earlier on Saturday, but that winds had weakened since then, ABC News reported, adding that parts of southern New Brunswick have already seen strong winds and heavy rains.

He added that he expects Dorian to make landfall in Nova Scotia on Saturday evening local time, and that the Atlantic province is already seeing power outages and toppled trees.

Earlier on Saturday, CHC's Ian Hubbard told The Associated Press that Dorian was expected to make landfall at Halifax, Nova Scotia, as a Category 1.

On Saturday afternoon local time, the Dorian was 180 miles (290 kilometers) southeast of Eastport, Maine, and approximately 140 miles (225 kilometers) southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia, NHC said. The Center noted that the hurricane was moving northeast at 29 miles per hour (47 kilometers per hour) and had a maximum wind speed of 100 miles per hour (161 kilometers per hour).

Dorian is expected to pass on or near Prince Edward Island before moving on to Newfoundland and Labrador on Sunday.

Canadian officials have asked residents to remain indoors and wait out the storm, Vox reported. According to CNN, Nova Scotia has a voluntary evacuation in place.

Meanwhile, the US Coast Guard has rescued 290 people in the Bahamas, as Bahamian emergency forces search for missing people.

Dorian has left over 48 people dead - 43 in the Bahamas, and five in the US. Another 70,000 people were left homeless, and 800 are stranded on Ocracoke Island, off the cost of North Carolina. Hundreds of thousands have been left without power.