Residents of Atlantic Canada and eastern Quebec are coming to terms with the full scope of the damage left behind after post-tropical storm Fiona tore through the region over the weekend as one of the strongest storms Canada’s East Coast has ever faced.
At Fiona’s peak on Saturday, more than 500,000 customers across Atlantic Canada were without power, but by early Monday morning that number had been lowered to less than 300,000, with the vast majority in Nova Scotia. But even as crews workaround the clock to repair downed lines, some utility companies warned it could be days before the power is back on for everyone.
Photos posted Sunday from Port aux Basques showed homes and outbuildings smashed or submerged on the shoreline, the result of a storm surge that raised water levels to a record high and swamped a residential neighbourhood on Saturday around 10 a.m.“The weather may have cleared, but the situation has not cleared at all,” he said via Facebook. “This is not a, ‘One day, we can all go back to normal.’ Unfortunately, this is going to take days, could take weeks, could take months in some places.
Amanda McDougall, mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, said almost 200 local residents were forced to leave their homes. She confirmed that the Red Cross was setting up food trucks to help those running out of supplies. “Glace Bay and Reserve Mines look like a war zone,” he said of the two Cape Breton communities. “Houses with roofs ripped off, trees down …. I know Cape Bretoners will help out their friends and family as much as they can.”“The wind was very high coming through here,” the 67-year-old tech worker said as he prepared to install some plastic sheathing. “It was just catching the peak of the house all night. The force was incredible.
In the provincial capital of Charlottetown, Premier Dennis King said Ottawa had agreed to send 100 soldiers to help clean up the Island. Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair added that Ottawa will work with provinces to determine what is needed for recovery from a financial perspective, especially for Canadians who have lost everything. But he said the immediate need is to provide food and shelter, which is why the federal government is matching donations to the Canadian Red Cross.
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