Fiona wreaks havoc in Atlantic Canada - Toronto Star

Reaction to destruction caused by post-tropical storm Fiona across the East Coast?

HALIFAX—As Newfoundlanders went into Saturday evening being battered by the passing post-tropical storm Fiona, the other Atlantic Provinces began the long task of cleaning up in its wake.

From its initial approach some 200 kilometres east of Halifax, through its landfall in Cape Breton in the early hours of Saturday to its side-swipe just west of the southwestern corner of Newfoundland, Fiona tore a swath as it went, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands, uprooting trees and downing utility poles and, in some cases washing entire homes into the sea.

Police in Newfoundland and Labrador said two people were swept out of residences that buckled to Fiona’s record-breaking storm surge and collapsed into the sea.

One of the women was rescued by local residents in Port aux Basques, N.L.

Todd Ingram, a resident of Port aux Basques, said the storm is the worst he’s seen in his lifetime.

Ingram said Port aux Basques is a small town where everyone knows each other.

As towns in Cape Breton and on Newfoundland’s southern coast declared states of emergency on Saturday, Fiona — one of the strongest storms to ever strike Eastern Canada — continued to rage.

Rene Roy, editor of the weekly newspaper in Port aux Basques, N.L., told The Canadian Press he saw evidence that nine homes, including a two-storey apartment building, were washed out to sea by a massive storm surge and wind-driven waves that soared about 25 metres into the air.

There are homes in the street … The RCMP are actively investigating whether people have been swept away.”.

While the storm displaced many from their homes in Port aux Basques, community members came together to offer support to loved ones and strangers alike.

Local Lions Clubs were offering temporary warm-up shelters and refreshments, donated by local businesses, to people evacuated from their homes.

At one location on Grand Bay Road, Lions Club president John Osmond said there were as many as 100 people seeking shelter at a time on Saturday, before some connected with family and friends or were transferred to other locations.

Some locals volunteered to house evacuees within their own homes, he said.

Residents were “very resilient … making the best of a bad situation,” said Osmond.

The Canadian Hurricane Centre in Dartmouth, N.S., said Fiona set an unofficial record for the lowest-ever barometric pressure for a tropical storm making landfall in Canada.

“The pressure of a storm is a very good indication of its intensity — how strong and intense the winds will be,” said meteorologist Ian Hubbard.

local time on Saturday, Nova Scotia Power was reporting 406,000 customers were in the dark — almost 80 per cent of the homes and businesses it serves.

She said it was unclear how many homes had been damaged, but there were reports of collapsed walls and missing roofs.

“We heard a lot of noise outside and then we realized that there are a lot of cracks in the house, and we looked outside and saw the tree had fallen,” said Arlene Grafilo, 43, as her children — ages three and 10 — played in a waiting area set up by the Red Cross.

In coastal Cow Bay, N.S., southeast of Halifax, Caralee McDaniel said the nearby Atlantic Ocean was “just wild.”.

Greg Smith, program director of Newfoundland and Labrador news outlet VCOM, noted that Port aux Basques mayor Brian Button said it best: “The sea is taking back the land.”.

The town has been torn apart by the storm, but only physically, he said.

By mid-morning, the worst of Fiona had passed eastern Nova Scotia — though the wind was still strong enough to suck the breath from one’s lungs — and, with more than 350,000 people without power, the mop-up began