‘It’s Like Walking Through a War Zone’: Atlantic Canada Mops Up After Fiona’s Fury

Lost and damaged homes, downed trees, and power outages just part of the devastation wrought by post-tropical storm

A firefighter examines damage to a home in Port aux Basques, N.L., on Sept. 26, 2022. The Canadian Press/Frank Gunn

The mood was sombre in Channel-Port aux Basques on Sept. 27.

In the wake of the devastation wrought by post-tropical storm Fiona, torn bits of walls and the roofs of houses blown into the waters of Cabot Strait still lined the shore of this small southwestern Newfoundland and Labrador community.

“It’s like walking through a war zone,” Darlene Collier, manager of the local Salvation Army thrift store, told The Epoch Times. “When I walked down there on Saturday morning, I was shocked by what I was seeing.”

As the storm lashed Atlantic Canada and southeastern Quebec, two Newfoundland women and a man in Nova Scotia were washed out to sea. One of the women broke her leg but was later treated and survived. The other succumbed to her injuries. The man is still missing.

Another man, known locally as “Smokey,” who survived being swept into the water when a wave hit him as he tried to get into his house, was able to get back ashore unscathed and is staying with relatives.

Although built on rock, many houses along the shore of Port aux Basques on Water Street East, Feltham Avenue, Clement Crescent, and Knox Avenue—homes that had survived more than half a century of previous storms—were overcome by Fiona and washed away to sea.

Others were so damaged as to be uninhabitable. Police are patrolling the area.

“A number of homes evacuated during the storm remain under an evacuation order,” Newfoundland and Labrador RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Jolene Garland told The Epoch Times.

“Police have responded to instances of homeowners attempting to gain access to their properties and will continue to respond to ensure everyone’s safety.”

With the exception of one case described by the RCMP as being a minor theft involving youths allegedly trying to swipe a dirt bike helmet, the community has been rallying around those most affected by Fiona’s fury.

The storm first made landfall in Atlantic Canada just southwest of Canso on the northeastern tip of mainland Nova Scotia in the early morning hours on Sept. 24.

According to the Canadian Hurricane Centre, Fiona generated damaging winds, torrential rainfall, large waves, and a destructive storm surge.

Fiona smacked into Port aux Basques with winds of up to 134 km/h. But it was the storm surges that caused the greatest damage in this hardest-hit community.

Winds were actually stronger in other communities in Atlantic Canada, reaching 140 km/h in Summerside and 149 km/h in East Point on Prince Edward Island, 177 km/h at Wreckhouse in Newfoundland, and 179 km/h in Arisaig, N.S.

Buildings sit in the water along the shore following hurricane Fiona in Rose Blanche-Harbour Le Cou, Newfoundland and Labrador, on Sept. 27, 2022. Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press

‘We’re Still Assessing the Damage’

Students living in St. Francis Xavier University’s Marguerite residence in Antigonish, N.S., woke up shortly after midnight on Sept. 24 to hear the wind tearing away at the roof of the building, said the university’s spokesperson Cindy MacKenzie.

Students were evacuated in the middle of the night, moved to Mulroney Hall, and later allowed to return to their residence rooms to get their laptops and other essential items before being relocated to other residences. By the following day, the university had a remediation company on the scene for clean-up operations and to prevent more water damage.

“Temporary patching has been done to the roof of Marguerite to minimize water entering the building,” MacKenzie said in an interview. “We’re still assessing the damage.”

Along the path of destruction caused by Fiona, that’s pretty much what most people are doing: cleaning up, assessing the damage, and trying to fix what they can and get back to their lives.

In Nova Scotia alone, 415,000 of the electrical utility’s customers lost power during the storm. Days later, on the evening of Sept. 27, there were still over 7,700 outages in the province affecting over 120,000 customers.

“While progress is being made, there is still a lot of difficult work ahead,” said Matt Drover, Nova Scotia Power’s storm lead, in a statement.

“We’ve been able to start getting a better look at some of those hardest-hit areas with drones and helicopters and it is reinforcing how widespread the damage is.”

During Fiona, thousands of trees fell on power lines, hundreds of telephone poles broke or were pushed aside by fallen trees, and transformers were damaged in Nova Scotia alone.

Drone footage provided by Nova Scotia Power shows a string of downed telephone poles and power lines in Glace Bay, work crews installing new poles, and giant trees toppled by the storm, blocking roads.

By the end of the day on Sept. 27, it was a similar situation with widespread outages in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

A lobster boat grounded on the rocks at the wharf in Stanley Bridge, P.E.I., on Sept. 25, 2022.The Canadian Press/Brian McInnis

In addition to downed trees, lost and damaged homes, many Atlantic Canadians are facing losses due to flooding from the storm surges and flash floods caused by the heavy rainfall over the weekend.

Over 100 Canadian Armed Forces personnel have been deployed to various areas to help with disaster relief efforts, having received requests for help from the governments of N.S, P.E.I, and N.L.

Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair has announced that Ottawa will match donations to the Canadian Red Cross’s Hurricane Fiona in Canada Appeal to support emergency services ranging from interim housing, clothing, food, and other essential supplies.

‘Everyone Pitched In’

In Newfoundland and Labrador, though, people aren’t waiting for the government to step in.

In the northeastern coastal town of Twillingate, Justin Blacker, a former principal at a school in Port aux Basques and now the mayor of Twillingate, sprang into action, calling on people from the community to drop off donations of food, clothing, and money at his garage on Sept. 25 as soon as he heard about the devastation.

J.M. Olds Collegiate principal Jessica Granter thought that was a good idea.

A home is hit by high winds caused by post-tropical storm Fiona in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador, on Sept. 24, 2022. Rene Roy/Wreckhouse Press via AP

She, her staff, and the students of the local secondary school started raising funds. They sold sundaes. They collected toonies from those who wanted to wear pyjamas to school. And they threw open their cafeteria to allow members of the community to drop off donations.

By noon on Sept. 27, the small school of only 111 students had raised $1,390 as well as food, clothing, and other essential items for Port aux Basques residents. They added it to the mayor’s drive, and it totalled about $10,000 in cash and enough emergency supplies to fill a 26-foot U-Haul trailer. The local Lions Club chipped in $500 for gas.

“It’s in Port aux Basques now and there’s another one going out on Monday,” said Granter in an interview.

“Everyone pitched in. It was just crazy. One lady knit three wool hats just to donate,” she said. “So many people who have struggled—or are struggling now—were among those who gave the most.”

At the Salvation Army in Port aux Basques, where even the water is brown and the residents are under a boil-water advisory, that help from strangers is keeping hope alive.

“They’re calling from all over the province and all over Canada to ask what they can do,” said Collier. “The trucks are coming in daily. We even have another one coming later with fresh produce.”