Emergency officials are urging Maritimers to take precautions as Hurricane Kyle bears down on the region.

Heavy rain and high winds are expected to lash coastal areas of southwestern Nova Scotia and southeastern New Brunswick late Sunday and early Monday.

The storm is expected to be powerful enough to uproot trees, erode soil in coastal areas and cause power outages.

Residents should heed the storm warnings and be prepared, said Ernie MacGillivary, with the Emergency Measures Organization in New Brunswick.

"Fill up your car with gas, maybe fill up your propane tank, go to the store," he said.

"Be prepared to be self-sufficient for two to three days. We're not talking about catastrophic impacts everywhere, but there could be power disruptions and loss of other utility services in your area."

The Category 1 hurricane was located about 245 kilometres east of Cape Cod as of 3 p.m. AT. As the storm heads north, it will pass near the west coast of Yarmouth and Digby counties in Nova Scotia by late in the evening, then cross the Bay of Fundy and make landfall just east of Saint John after midnight.

"It should start losing a little bit of intensity over the next few hours as it starts to move over some progressively colder water," said Bob Robichaud, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.

"But given its speed and everything, we'll probably see the storm make landfall if not at hurricane status then just a little bit below that."

Robichaud said the heaviest rain should fall west of the storm's track, while areas east of Saint John would see the strongest winds.

The storm warnings for Yarmouth, Shelburne and Digby counties in Nova Scotia have been upgraded to hurricane warnings. In New Brunswick, the tropical storm warnings and watches have been extended farther east.

Wind gusts of 130 km/h are expected in southwestern Nova Scotia. Sea levels are expected to rise a metre, causing shoreline erosion and potentially damaging property.

The Fundy coast of New Brunswick can expect wind gusts of 100 km/h and up to 100 millimetres of rain in a very short time.

The power companies in both provinces have crews on standby.

The ferry crossings between Saint John and Digby have been cancelled, along with the run between Yarmouth and Bar Harbor, Maine.

Cruise ships have altered their schedules. The Sea Princess cancelled its trip to Saint John and the Queen Mary II pushed back its arrival to Wednesday.

Paul Small, spokesman for the Saint John Port Authority, said ships are erring on the side of caution.

"If you think about the time it takes a ship to get here to get to call, they would be travelling through the worst of it if they came right now," said Small.

Maritime Electric officials on Prince Edward Island also say heavy rain and high winds could mean a number of outages. The Canadian Red Cross is reminding Islanders they should prepare with emergency supplies to last three days.

The storm grew to a Category 1 hurricane over the Atlantic Ocean off the U.S. coast on Saturday evening, forecasters said.

Officials in Maine issued the state's first hurricane watch in 17 years for coastal areas, according to the U.S. National Weather Service.