In Atlantic Canada, hundreds of thousands of people were still without power on Sunday as authorities attempted to determine the extent of the damage caused by the former hurricane Fiona, which destroyed homes, removed roofs, and blocked roads throughout the region’s Atlantic provinces.
Fiona, a post-tropical cyclone that had surged north from the Caribbean, made landfall before dawn on Saturday and pummeled Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and Quebec with hurricane-force winds, torrential rain, and enormous waves.
Anita Anand, Canada’s defense minister, promised that for however long it takes, Canadian troops would assist in clearing fallen trees from eastern Canada, repairing damaged roads, and performing other tasks as needed. She made no mention of the number of troops.
The woman, according to police, was last seen inside the house just before a wave hit it early on Saturday morning, tearing away part of the basement.
Over 252,000 customers of Nova Scotia Power and over 82,000 customers of Maritime Electric, or about 95% of the total, were still without power as of Sunday morning in the province of Prince Edward Island. In New Brunswick, more than 20,600 houses and businesses were also destroyed.
In the province of almost 1 million people, over 415,000 Nova Scotia Power customers were affected by outages on Saturday.
Before everyone’s lights come back on, according to utility companies, it could take several days.
According to Amanda McDougall, mayor of Cape Breton Regional Municipality, over 200 people have been relocated and are staying in temporary housing as of Sunday. Her region, which declared a state of emergency, has over 70 roads that are completely impassable. The number of homes damaged in her own neighborhood, she claimed, was too numerous to count.
She noted that the road to the airport is impassable and the tower has sustained significant damage, saying it was crucial for the military to show up and assist in clearing debris.
It is amazing there are no injuries, according to McDougall.
This was the outcome, she claimed, because people paid attention to the warnings and followed the prescribed course of action.
Few communities were spared damage, according to Dennis King, the premier of Prince Edward Island, and the destruction appeared to be beyond anything previously seen in the province.
Port Aux Basques, Newfoundland, was hit by raging surf that swept entire buildings into the water.
Brian Button, the mayor, stated on social media that “this is not a one-day situation where we can all go back to normal.” “Unfortunately, this will take days, and in some cases, it may take weeks or months.”
A large portion of the 4,000-person town had been evacuated, and according to Button, authorities will Sunday designate areas where people can safely return to their homes. He pleaded for patience, noting that some locals were demonstrating at the barricades in an irate state and wanting to leave.
Now that the storm’s intense winds have mostly subsided, officials from government agencies across eastern Canada were evaluating the full extent of damage caused by the storm. Fiona had crossed southeast Quebec as she moved inland.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau postponed his trip to Japan for the funeral of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as a result of the catastrophe.
“We are receiving heartbreaking images from Port aux Basques. Storm damage has never been seen before in [Prince Edward Island]. Cape Breton is also suffering greatly, according to Trudeau.
Some people, who are very concerned, witness the destruction of their homes. We will support you, said Trudeau.
In the largest city in Nova Scotia, according to Halifax Mayor Mike Savage, an apartment building’s roof collapsed, and 100 people were taken to an evacuation center. No one was seriously hurt, he claimed.
According to a tweet from the Canadian Hurricane Centre, Fiona had the lowest pressure ever observed for a storm making landfall in Canada, which is a crucial indicator of storm strength.
Trudeau claimed that severe storms were occurring more frequently.
Because of climate change, he claimed, what was once a storm that happened once every 100 years might now occur every few years, necessitating the need for more resilient infrastructure to withstand extreme weather events.
Former foreign and defense minister Peter MacKay, who now resides in Nova Scotia, claimed that he had never experienced a storm with winds as fierce as those during Fiona.
“We had done everything we could to keep ourselves safe, but the house took a pretty good beating. We have a lot of missing shingles, significant water damage to the walls and ceilings, and a destroyed deck. My garage, which I was constructing, was destroyed by wind, MacKay claimed in an email to the Associated Press.
