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Canada girds for long haul after historic storm Fiona ravages east coast
“Islanders ... should know that our road to recovery will be weeks or longer. It will be an all-hands on deck approach,” he added.
Several university students lined up for food outside convenience stores powered by generators due to the power outage caused by Fiona. The Canadian Red Cross has launched a fund raising drive to support the affected people.
Government officials said the full-scale of the destruction will only be known in the coming days and weeks. But with the storm packing gusts of up to 170km/hour sweeping away homes, bridges and roads, Fiona was reminiscent of the damage caused by other storms, including Hurricane Dorian in 2019, which is estimated to have had an insurance bill of C$105 million.
Premiers of the affected provinces told the federal government they need long-term support around public and critical infrastructure after the storm tore off roofs of schools and community centres, as well as quick relief to businesses and families to get on with normal life quickly.
The storm also severely damaged fishing harbours in Atlantic Canada, which could hurt the country's C$3.2 billion lobster industry, unless it is fully restored before the season kicks off in few weeks.
“Those fishers have a very immediate need to be able to access their livelihood once the storm passes,” Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs of Canada, said on Saturday.
“So this is exactly the kind of work that will accompany provincial authorities in the coming weeks and months,” he added
'Total devastation': Newfoundland town is DESTROYED by Fiona as homes are swept out to sea, roads are washed away and 471,000 are left without power - but no deaths are reported
One woman was nearly swept out to sea when her home in Port Aux Basques collapsed, but neighbors were able to save her
The center of the storm, now called Post-Tropical Cyclone Fiona, was crossing northeasterly across Newfoundland and Labrador with high winds and heavy rains
The storm had weakened somewhat as it travelled north. As of 6 p.m., the storm was about 80 northwest of Port Aux Basques, where the town was devastated
Nearly half a million people were without power in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, utility companies said
By STEPHEN LEPORE and REUTERS and JANON FISHER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED:25 September 2022
Devastating storm Fiona threw nearly half a million Canadians into darkness, uprooted trees, swept away roads and destroyed the pretty Newfoundland town of Port Aux Basques after it slammed into eastern part of the country on Saturday.
Post-Tropical Cyclone Fiona, as it is now called after being downgraded by the National Hurricane Center, punished the coastal towns of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island New Brunswick and Newfoundland with winds of more than 80mph, which knocked out power to 470,000 households.
'We're seeing devastating images come out of Port aux Basques,' Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the press. 'PEI (Prince Edward Island) has experienced storm damage like they've never seen. Cape Breton is being hit hard, too, as is Quebec.'
As many as 20 homes are believed to be destroyed, like this one, caused by the storm surge by Post-Tropical Storm Fiona
Port Aux Basques, the southernmost tip of Newfoundland, was devastated by the storm
The banner for A&W restaurant was torn from its place during the high winds, estimated to top 80 mph
Post-Tropical Storm Fiona knocked out power to nearly half a million Canadians as it swept through Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau canceled a trip to Japan to oversee the recovery effort
Storm Fiona sends homes floating away as it floods eastern Canada
The weather front will continue to push across Newfoundland and Labrador toward Greenland where it's forecast to peter out by Monday.
But that's too late for the town of Port Aux Basques on the southwestern tip of Newfoundland.
'What's actually happening here is total devastation,' Mayor Brian Button told the CBC. 'This has become bigger, and worse than we had imagined.'
Six-foot storm surges crushed homes and carried them out to sea before the tide shifted, leaving a debris and ruin in its wake.
The mayor said that he ordered an evacuation of all homes on the coast.
'I'm telling you, it is a mess out there,' he told the news outlet.
One woman was nearly carried out to sea after her coastal home collapsed in the swell, according to Jolene Garland, spokeswoman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
There was a report of a second woman who may not have been so lucky, but police were unable to get to her home because conditions were too dangerous.
Neighbors were able to grab her and pull her to safety. She suffered minor injuries and was treated at the local hospital, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Garland described extreme weather conditions along the southwest coast of Newfoundland that included 'high winds, high waves, flooding and electrical fires.' Multiple structures have been destroyed by high seas, she said
The Royal Canadian Police said the town of 4,000 is in a state of emergency as authorities deal with multiple electrical fires and residential flooding.
'I´m seeing homes in the ocean. I'm seeing rubble floating all over the place. It's complete and utter destruction. There's an apartment that is gone, that is literally just rubble,' said René J. Roy, a resident of Channel-Port Aux Basques and chief editor at Wreckhouse Press, said in a phone interview.
Roy estimated between eight to 12 houses and buildings have washed into the sea. 'It's quite terrifying,' he said.
Further inland in Burgeo-La Polie, the local assemblyman said that the destruction came quickly.
'Over 20 homes damaged or destroyed,' Andrew Parsons, a member of the House of Assembly, told the CBC. 'Again, some of these are extremely close friends, people I've known my entire life. Just a flick, just seconds, they lose something that they've worked at.'
Hundreds are believed to be displaced by the storm surge, which knocked out roads making relief efforts more frustrating.
Nova Scotia Power CEO Peter Gregg told NBC News that it would take at least three days to restore power.
Michael King, special advisor to Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey, and his family, posted a photo that shows damaged caused by post-tropical storm Fiona on the Burnt Islands
Some sort of structure appears to have floated away due to the effects of the post-tropical storm
Fallen trees lean against a house in Sydney as post tropical storm Fiona continues to batter the Maritimes on Saturday
Powerful storm Fiona slammed into eastern Canada on Saturday with hurricane-force winds, nearly a week after devastating parts of the Caribbean as hundreds of thousands are without power, including some in Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island
Sparks rain down through trees as Storm Fiona slams eastern Canada
The storm had weakened somewhat as it travelled north. As of 5 a.m., the storm was about 160 miles northeast of Halifax, carrying maximum winds of 90 miles per hour and barreling north at around 26 mph, the NHC said.
Hurricane-force winds extended up to 175 miles out from Fiona's center while tropical-storm-force winds reached up to 405 miles out as of 8 a.m. ET, according to the NHC.
The Canadian Hurricane Center called the storm 'the lowest pressured land falling storm on record in Canada.' Lower pressure systems cause more intense storms, providing lift and moisture in the atmosphere to fuel showers and thunderstorms.
The 931.6 mb measurement would be not only a Canadian record but the lowest pressure ever observed in either Canada or the US for any storm north of the Gulf Coast, according to Yale Climate Connections.
The pressure is similar to what is usually expected with a Category 4 hurricane but it's only a tropical storm because of the wide differential in pressure across the storm.
Hurricanes in Canada are somewhat rare, in part because once the storms reach colder waters, they lose their main source of energy. But post-tropical cyclones still can have hurricane-strength winds, although they have a cold core and no visible eye. They also often lose their symmetric form and more resemble a comma.
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