'It is surreal': Canada's Atlantic coast residents describe devastation as Fiona wipes away homes an

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

Source: CNN

'It is surreal': Canada's Atlantic coast residents describe devastation as Fiona wipes away homes and knocks out power

(CNN)Fiona ripped through Canada's eastern seaboard at hurricane strength after making landfall in Nova Scotia on Saturday, slamming the area with fierce winds and storm surge, sapping power for hundreds of thousands and washing away or collapsing some coastal homes.

Fiona, now a post-tropical cyclone, continued to slowly weaken Saturday evening and into the night as it moved away from the coastal town of Channel-Port aux Basques, in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the storm left a trail of devastation. Some coastal homes in the area collapsed and a few toppled structures fell into the sea or were surrounded by floodwater, pictures sent from the province Saturday morning showed.
In Channel-Port aux Basques, houses were washed away, Mayor Brian Button said in a Facebook video Saturday. Huge waves reaching the eastern shores of Nova Scotia and southwestern Newfoundland caused "severe coastal flooding" at the town, the Canadian Hurricane Centre said Saturday night.

Authorities in the province declared a state of emergency for the town amid "multiple electrical fires, residential flooding and washouts" Saturday morning.

René Roy, editor-in-chief of Wreckhouse Press, a local news publication, described a scene of carnage in the storm: uprooted trees, at least eight nearby homes vanished in the wake of a violent storm surge, cabins floating by, a boat carried by floodwaters into the middle of a local playground. /snip

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/24/weather/hurricane-fiona-canada-saturday/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2hGI98AS6NgtDg49UckxOmMCVP3bQ3UajVIB6BAWPnXQmaRT1saYRNJ1s

[Cha]

1. Awww.. I'm so Sorry, Nova Scotia &

Labrador, and Newfoundland!

I love that area and am actually now. We had our own Devasting Hurricane on 9/11/92.. took uf 5 years to rebuild. Without power for 3 months. NE electricians came over to help get the power lines back!

[global1]

2. Did Fiona Hit Oak Island?.....

Like in "The Curse of Oak Island".

[KS Toronado]

5. Per Wikipedia

The Curse of Oak Island is a multi-season reality television[1] series that chronicles an eclectic team of treasure
hunters and their search for legendary treasure on Oak Island, off the shore of Nova Scotia, Canada.

Above article did say it landed in Nova Scotia, so they probably got some damage.

[electric_blue68]

3. Oh no! Good luck up there!

[jimfields33]

4. Honestly, in Florida, we get them constantly

so building codes and preparation is routine. It’s awful that Canada got a hurricane that was so rare. Has been very difficult to prepare and the buildings are probably not hurricane proof understandably. I feel for the country big time.

[LeftInTX]

7. Canada gets hurricanes alot

NS is sort of a sitting duck.
Hurricanes all move north

[jimfields33]

10. Oh wow. I love this site. Learning never ends.

Thank you.

[paleotn]

12. Nova Scotia has the same problem with geography as the Outer Banks....

It just sticks out there in the line of fire as tropical and post tropical systems turn north and north east in the prevailing westerlies. Thing is though, the majority of landfalls in Atlantic Canada are post tropical systems that have spent much of their energy. Fiona was still pretty potent. Not without precedent, but maybe the new normal to come.

[cstanleytech]

6. Well, I never thought I would see a hurricane almost make a beeline to Canada.

Hopefully it wont become a regular event because if it does they are going to have to have to beef up their building codes to handle it to to mention retrofit their existing ones as much as possible.

[LeftInTX]

8. It happens alot

[OnlinePoker]

11. Here's some info from a few years back

From 1951 to 2008, nearly 40% of Atlantic named storms (tropical storms and hurricanes) entered the Canadian Hurricane Centre Response (CHCR) zone, and a quarter of those made landfall in Canada. During the same period, 7% of Atlantic hurricanes made landfall in Atlantic Canada.

No major hurricane (Category 3 or more on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale) landfalls have been recorded in Canada during the last century, but since 2000 there has been about one hurricane landfall every other year.

https://www.air-worldwide.com/blog/posts/2015/10/hurricanes-hit-canada-more-frequently-than-you-think/

[luvtheGWN]

14. I clearly remember Hurricane Hazel.

It was October 1954 (and I was just turning 6). It made its way up to southern Ontario and many, many homes were destroyed in certain parts of Toronto. It wasn't the wind so much as the seemingly never-ending rains that washed through the lower parts (Toronto has several rivers that run out to Lake Ontario). Homes along the rivers were just washed away. I don't know how many lives were lost . My home, the foundation of which was built out of stone in the early 1800's, had water up to the top steps of the cellar. Parents were visiting my grandmother in Detroit and couldn't get back home for several days because the bridges were washed out.

Absolutely terrifying -- but not close to being as bad as what my countrymen/women faced in the Maritimes with bad, bad Fiona.

[bucolic_frolic]

9. I probably have cousins in NS, 250 years removed

about 75 SW Halifax. Was Queens Colony when my branch of the family left.

Wish you guys well!

[Old Crank]

13. My birth provence

is Nova Scotia. I was born on the other side on the Bay of Fundy.
Moved to north of Quebec City, then Ottawa. Joys of being a military brat.

[mnhtnbb]

15. I was in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland on a cruise

at the end of September, 2019, after Hurricane Dorian came through that area earlier in September.

I took photos of the crane that collapsed in Halifax. They still hadn't figured out how to remove it, after several weeks.

Link to tweet

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/snoddon-dorianrecap-weather-1.5712159

[Martin68]

16. I have deep sympathy for anyone who has suffered the consequences of a natural disaster such as a

hurricane, tornado, flood, or forest fire. Descriptions from Canadians about the "surreal" effects of Hurricane Fiona bring more attention to the rarity of such events in Canada than the actual devastation in terms of property and lives. Puerto Rico needs billions of dollars of assistance to repair the damage done to their entire country by two massive hurricanes. The entire country has lost electric power, roads and bridges, thousands of houses, crops, and untold lives. This is not to belittle Canada, but to bring attention to the fact that Puerto Rico is in desperate need of assistance. please consider taking a donation to the Hispanic Federation of Puerto Rico or some other accredited charity there.

[e-mail].