CHARLOTTETOWN — Frustration is growing in Prince Edward Island as some residents face their 19th straight day without power, and others wait hours in lineups for payments to offset the financial fallout from post-tropical storm Fiona.
Stephen Petrie said Wednesday he had spent more than three hours that morning standing in lineups in a Charlottetown mall, waiting to have his identify verified by the Canadian Red Cross. The organization is distributing $250 payments on behalf of the provincial government to Islanders impacted by the storm.
Petrie said that when his identity was finally verified, he was told he would have to wait another 10 days or so for an email transfer of the funds.
"It's just chaos," Petrie said in an interview, adding that many others were forced to wait in line alongside him. "Everyone's already tense and angry."
Red Cross spokesperson Dan Bedell said the organization is doing its best to meet the demand, adding that mobile payments centres could be up and running by the weekend.
"We only have a small group of volunteers in Prince Edward Island and just a couple staff," Bedell said in an interview Wednesday. "We have since deployed people literally from across the country to assist.
Fiona brought unprecedented destruction to parts of Atlantic Canada when it barrelled through the region on Sept. 24. The storm tore up trees, knocked down power lines and swept houses out to sea.
As of 4:45 p.m. local time, Maritime Electric's website showed that 1,042 customers in Prince Edward Island were still without power. The company has said it could be Friday until the last account is restored.
The province first announced last month that it had enlisted the Canadian Red Cross to dole out relief funds. The agency has also announced it will be distributing additional payments of $500, coming from donations.
Bedell said the Red Cross is also overseeing the Fiona financial assistance programs announced in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. The provincial governments require that anyone benefiting from the funds must have their identifies verified, he said, adding that the same protocols are being used in all three provinces.
Bedell said there could be several reasons why Islanders such as Petrie needed to have their identities verified in person. Their online registration may have been flawed or incomplete, for example. And while many others have been able to provide their identification through email or Zoom calls, there are an abnormally high number of Islanders who don't have or cannot use those options, he said.
"We also have to bear in mind to some of the people most affected still don't have power yet," he added.
Of the 52,539 households on the Island that have registered for aid money, Bedell said that so far, more than 36,000 have been authenticated and more than 28,000 households have received payments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2022.
— By Sarah Smellie in St. John's.
The Canadian Press
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