In Port aux Basques, N.L., residents reeling after Fiona destroys dozens of homes

Post-tropical storm Fiona carved a path of devastation across parts of Atlantic Canada, leaving behind smashed homes, roads strewn with debris and hundreds of thousands of people without power.

But few places have been hit as hard as the 4,000-person community of Port aux Basques, where dozens of homes were destroyed and a 73-year-old woman died after being swept out to sea when a storm surge flooded her home.

Gillam remembers feeling the water rising as she struggled to hold on to the Jeep and her brother-in-law fought against the current to reach her.

“He came up but he couldn’t find me because there was so much water,” she said. “I was down under the water so, so much.”

She said her brother-in-law called for help, and he and some neighbours were able to grab her when the water began to subside.

Gillam escaped with only a banged-up knee, and memories she says will live with her “forever and a day.”

“Last night I didn’t sleep a wink because every time I turn over, I could see the waves and then I could taste the water and I could smell it in my nose,” she said. However, she says she’s on the mend and feels lucky that her home wasn’t damaged.

Many in her town weren’t as lucky.

On Monday, residents escorted by provincial response crews sorted through piles of debris in the pouring rain to salvage what they could from what remained of their homes.

One house perched on the edge of the rocks was missing an entire wall, its kitchen table and cupboard fully exposed on the sagging wood floor. About 30 metres away, another house was almost flattened, its roof and side wall missing. Nearby, a stuffed animal and blanket with Pixar “Cars” characters lay under splintered wood.

Premier Andrew Furey visited Port aux Basques and nearby communities Monday and compared the devastation in southwest Newfoundland to disaster zones where he has worked as a medical doctor.

As of Monday afternoon, he said, at least 80 homes were destroyed or structurally damaged in Port aux Basques alone — but the number could rise as officials continue to take stock of the damage.

“For every roof that’s floating in the ocean, there’s a family, there are stories and there are memories attached to that piece of infrastructure, and that’s what’s heartbreaking,” he told reporters.

He said officials were still working with the federal government about where to deploy Armed Forces members and other federal aid that has been offered.

Andrew Parsons, the provincial legislature member for Burgeo-La Poile, told the briefing that the immediate focus of relief efforts is ensuring people have shelter, food and clothes. While an emergency shelter was made available, he said all those who have been displaced are staying in hotels or with family.

The longer rebuilding effort will take more time, and will involve co-ordination and aid from the federal government. “We don’t have all the answers right now, but we’ll get there, and we’ll have everybody’s back throughout this entire ordeal,” he said.

Furey said the government would be announcing a financial support package in the coming days that will help those whose insurance won’t cover the damage.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2022.

— With files from Morgan Lowrie in Montreal

Holly McKenzie-Sutter, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

In Port aux Basques, N.L., residents reeling after Fiona destroys dozens of homes

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