Atlantic Canada begins long cleanup after Fiona leaves destruction

Content of the article

It will take several months in Atlantic Canada to restore critical infrastructure after powerful Storm Fiona left an « unprecedented » trail of destruction, officials said on Sunday, as teams fanned out to five provinces to restore power and clean up fallen trees and debris.

Content of the article

Atlantic Canada is used to severe storms, but since Hurricane Juan hit in 2003, the people who live there have never encountered anything of this magnitude.

Content of the article

« The difference between them was that Fiona was huge, » said Carmen Hartt, a meteorologist at the Canadian Hurricane Center in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. « It covered from New Brunswick to Newfoundland, like with this rain and wind at the same time, so I think in terms of impacts it’s the worst tropical system to affect Canada in a generation. .

By the time Hurricane Fiona made landfall, it had already been reclassified as a post-tropical storm, but that made no difference: the extent of the damage to Canada’s Atlantic coast — where homes were washed out to sea, roads were washed away and many trees felled – has never been seen before.

Content of the article

Bill Blair, federal Minister of Emergency Preparedness, said the storm was « unprecedented in our experience, and that’s concerning because we’re still at the start of hurricane season. I am not an alarmist, but I think it is important that we are well prepared.

Blair said the sheer size of the area affected by the winds and rain sets this storm apart: Labrador and Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Quebec were all hammered in places.

“There was a huge amount of damage,” he said in an interview. “There are trees everywhere. Blown roofs of people’s homes and businesses and some community infrastructure.

The good news, he said, is that major transportation infrastructure — from the Confederation Bridge and the Canso Causeway to numerous airports and ferry facilities — was not severely damaged.

Content of the article

There was no estimate of the monetary value of the damage, but Transport Canada planes were monitoring the area and the Canadian Armed Forces had been deployed. Meanwhile, the storm winds had diminished considerably and it was heading out to sea over Labrador.

Some of the worst damage occurred in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, where the storm surge unfortunately coincided with a high tide and swept homes and entire buildings out to sea. Blair also said a « inn » in the Magdalen Islands, Quebec, as well as countless fishing vessels along the coast throughout the region were destroyed.

Nova Scotia asked troops and machinery to clean up the debris on Saturday, « and we said yes, and so they’re deploying today, » Blair said. Other provinces are also in talks about federal aid, he said.

Content of the article

« We’re hearing from many people whose homes have been damaged, and mayors reporting significant impacts to their communities, » Blair said. “We are prioritizing restoring hydropower, making sure everyone is safe and people have access to the essential services they need for health, food and utilities. . »

There was no estimate of the monetary value of the damage, but Transport Canada planes were monitoring the area and the Canadian Armed Forces had been deployed. Meanwhile, the storm winds had diminished considerably and it was heading out to sea over Labrador.

Hartt said that from a technical standpoint, Fiona ranked at the top of a Category 1 hurricane with sustained wind forces between 119 and 153 kilometers per hour, while Juan ranked at the bottom of category 2 with sustained winds at 154 and 177 kilometers. per hour.

Content of the article

But she added that Fiona had wind diameters that measured 600 kilometres, making it a much larger scale than anything in recent history: The eye of the storm landed on closer to Cape Breton and swept the entire Gulf of St. Lawrence, which, because it’s a confined area, caused the water levels to rise.

As Hurricane Fiona swept across the Atlantic on Friday evening, with powerful gusty winds carving 10-meter-high waves, darkness descended on Halifax and the surrounding area, Hartt said. Street lights went out as the power went out and the darkness was punctuated by flashes of light reflected off the clouds, as power transformers in the distance exploded, she said in a phone interview sunday.

Hartt said Friday night at her home in Dartmouth, the winds began buffeting nearby homes and trees. The power dropped and she noticed the distinct absence of her familiar ambient hum.

Content of the article

« I heard a few knocks and stuff and we thought it was probably stuff flying around, » she said. “We saw transformer lightning explode. It was quite worrying. »

The next morning, Saturday, she drove to work through a largely deserted landscape – the traffic lights remained off; people largely remained indoors amid lingering winds, and even though the worst of the storm had passed, hundreds of thousands of people across Atlantic Canada were left without power Sunday afternoon, according to several sources, government officials to the power company’s website.

Almost immediately, meanwhile, discussions began about how climate change might have affected the storm.

Content of the article

David Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada, said such calculations are always tricky: hurricanes form when the water temperature at the surface of the ocean exceeds 26 degrees Celsius, and these storms are enhanced by warmer air, which can hold more moisture. — the two effects of climate change.

At the same time, there are offsetting effects of climate change, including so-called « shear » that dampens these storms, he said.

« We can’t rule out (climate change) because it makes these storms more likely, » Phillips said. « But if you said to me in 50 years, will we see more? Well, I don’t think we will necessarily see more, we might see less because of the wind field. However, when they produce, they could be more powerful.

The other difference, he said, is that there are far more people living along the coast and far more infrastructure vulnerable to such damage.

Blair said the federal government will match all donations to the Canadian Red Cross by individuals and businesses over the next month.

• Email: gfriedman@postmedia.com | Twitter: GabeFriedz