Many Nova Scotians will be spending part of Sunday┬аin temporary shelters, making insurance calls, revving up chainsaws and wielding rakes as they clean up after post-tropical storm Fiona.
The storm raged through the province on Saturday, downing trees and power lines, flooding homes and washing out roads, and leaving more than 270,000 Nova Scotia Power customers without electricity on Sunday morning.
Nova Scotia Power’s outage map indicates the estimated restoration time for many customers┬аis Tuesday or Wednesday.
Fiona made landfall as a hurricane-strength post-tropical storm near Whitehead, N.S., near Canso, in the early hours Saturday, according to Environment Canada.
The highest winds in Nova Scotia were reported in Arisaig, north of Antigonish, where they reached gusts of 171 km/h, according to preliminary information.
The highest rainfall totals were in Osborne Head near Eastern Passage, where 192 millimetres fell.
The Canadian Armed Forces has been called in to help remove debris, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday that Ottawa has approved Nova Scotia’s request for disaster assistance funding, which will assist municipalities repair infrastructure and help people pay for losses.
Premier Tim Houston and the ministers of EMO, finance, public works and mental health will survey some of the hardest-hit areas of Cape Breton on Sunday by helicopter.
In Cape Breton, about 200 people had to leave their homes after they were damaged in the storm. They’ve been moved to comfort centres at the Coast Guard College and the┬аMembertou Trade and Convention Centre.
Amanda McDougall, the mayor of Cape Breton Regional Municipality, said the top priority for staff is┬аensuring residents have adequate shelter and support.
“To see the damage in people’s homes is really really, it’s heartbreaking.┬аRoofs┬аare off. There’s one house that we had seen, their roof was completely off and their roof was on their neighbour’s yard.”
McDougall said the state of emergency in the municipality will last for┬аseven days.
Cape Breton Regional Police said Saturday more than 70 roads in the municipality were blocked.
Northern Cape Breton hit hard
The Cabot Trail from Neils Harbour, N.S.,┬аto Ingonish remains closed, as well as at French Mountain. Keltic Road and the west entrance to the Cape Breton Highlands National Park just north of Ch├йticamp┬аhave reopened.
In northern Cape Breton around Neils Harbour, reports are that damage has been devastating.
It has been difficult to reach people and Victoria County emergency management co-ordinator Lyle Donovan said that’s because along with electricity, all phone service is pretty much gone.
Donovan said a 500-metre stretch of road from Neils Harbour to New Haven has been destroyed by water and wind.
“It’s like you’re walking on a rocky beach,” he said.
A couple of homes have been damaged, along with a few vehicles and fishing boats, but no one appears to have been seriously injured.
A bridge on the road that washed out has left four homes stranded, some of which have already been evacuated.
Osborne Burke, general manager of the Victoria Co-op Fisheries in Neils Harbour, is in Europe on his way to a seafood trade mission.┬аHowever, he has spoken to staff at the fishermen-owned processing plant and seen pictures.
The damage at the fish plant was “horrendous,” Burke said.┬аThe plant is onshore inside a large rock breakwater, but it’s like that didn’t even exist, he said.
The wharf was destroyed and a concrete wall at the plant was knocked down, soaking electrical panels with saltwater. That means they might dry out and look fine, but could be ruined.
Several 40-foot sea containers full of frozen fish products were “lifted off their pads and thrown around like they were dominoes,” Burke said. With no power, that product will be lost.
Burke said from what he’s seen and heard, “a quick estimate is we’re north of $1 million damage at our facility alone. It’s damage we never, ever thought would occur.”
Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt, he said.
“That’s the most important thing. Everything else can be rebuilt.”
268 trees removed from roads in HRM on Saturday
In the Halifax Regional Municipality, crews are working to clear brush and remove fallen trees that are┬аobstructing streets.
Erica Fleck, the assistant chief of Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency, said crews removed 268 trees from main roads in the municipality over a 12-hour period Saturday.
“There’ll be a lot more to do today┬аand over the continuing days, but like I said, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
Fleck said it will probably take another five or six days before the cleanup is complete.
Some transportation still affected
Some flights have resumed in and out of the Halifax Stanfield International Airport, though many are still cancelled, and departing and arriving flights at the JA Douglas McCurdy Sydney Airport are slated to proceed as scheduled Sunday.
Halifax Transit announced its services will be operating as usual on Sunday.
Marine Atlantic also reported Sunday that regular sailings have resumed.
