Canada prepares for long recovery following historic Hurricane Fiona

• The focus has moved to extensive cleanup activities.
• The Canadian military will be sent in to assist with the clean-up.
• The Canadian Red Cross has started a fundraising campaign.

The focus has moved to extensive cleanup activities, damage assessment, and the restoration of electricity and telecom services after devastating storm Fiona left a path of destruction along Canada’s east coast on Saturday. Officials have warned of a protracted road to recovery.

With hurricane-force winds, the unprecedented storm ploughed into eastern Canada, prompting evacuations, destroying trees and powerlines, and leaving many homes “simply a pile of debris.”

According to the Canadian Hurricane Centre, Fiona had the lowest landfalling pressure ever recorded in Canada.

The Canadian military will be sent in to assist with the clean-up, according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who also noted that Fiona did tremendous damage and that recovery will take a lot of work.

Despite the storm’s strength, there were no significant injuries or fatalities, according to government officials, who attributed this to the locals listening to the frequent warnings.

Government officials begged residents for patience as thousands of people continued to be without power and struggle with sporadic communication connections in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island (PEI), and Newfoundland.

They cautioned that in certain circumstances, weeks would pass before crucial services could be completely restored.

According to Dennis King, premier of PEI, “we do know that the devastation is very severe, perhaps possibly the worst we have ever seen.”

“Islanders should be aware that the rehabilitation process could take weeks or more. It will be a full-court press effort “he said.

Due of Fiona’s power outage, a line of hungry university students formed outside of gas station convenience stores. To help those affected, the Canadian Red Cross has started a fundraising campaign.

According to government officials, the entire scope of the disaster won’t be understood for several days or weeks. Fiona was reminiscent of the destruction inflicted by past storms, such as Hurricane Dorian in 2019, which is thought to have had an insurance payout of C$105 million, with its gusts of up to 170 km/h sweeping away homes, bridges, and roads.

After the storm tore off the roofs of schools and community centres, the premiers of the affected provinces informed the federal government that they needed both immediate relief for businesses and families so they could resume their normal lives and long-term support for public and critical infrastructure.

If the country’s C$3.2 billion lobster business is not fully recovered before the season begins in a few weeks, the storm also seriously damaged fishing harbors in Atlantic Canada.

Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, stated on Saturday that “those fishermen have a very immediate need to be able to access their livelihood once the storm passes.”

Therefore, he continued, “This is precisely the kind of effort that will support provincial authorities in the ensuing weeks and months.”

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