TORONTO — The Canadian military mobilized and officials on Sunday tried to assess the scope of devastation from former Hurricane Fiona, which swept away houses, stripped off roofs and knocked out power across the country’s Atlantic provinces.
After surging north from the Caribbean, Fiona came ashore before dawn Saturday as a post-tropical cyclone, battering Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Quebec with hurricane-strength winds, heavy rains and huge waves.
Defense Minister Anita Anand said Canadian troops would help remove fallen trees throughout Eastern Canada, restore transportation links and do whatever else is required for as long as it takes. She didn’t specify how many troops would be deployed.
Fiona was blamed for at least five deaths in the Caribbean, but there was no confirmation of any fatalities or serious injuries in Canada. Police said a woman who might have been swept away was listed as missing in the hardest hit town of Channel-Port Aux Basques on the southern coast of Newfoundland.
Entire structures were washed into the sea as raging surf pounded Port Aux Basques.
“Thankfully the weather is a lot better on the outside this morning which will give us opportunities to have a look and assess the damage,” Mayor Brian Button said on social media.
“This is not a one-day situation where we can all go back to normal. Unfortunately, this is going to take days, it could take weeks, it could take months in some cases.”
Much of the town of 4,000 had been evacuated and Button said officials on Sunday will identify areas where people can safely go back to their homes. He asked for patience, noting some residents are showing up at barricades angry and wanting to go to home.
Government officials across Eastern Canada were assessing the full scope of damage caused by the storm now that the fierce winds have subsided in most places. Fiona had moved inland over southeastern Quebec.
As of Sunday morning, nearly 267,000 Nova Scotia Power customers and more than 82,000 Maritime Electric customers in the province of Prince Edward Island — about 95% of the total — remained in the dark. So were more than 20,600 homes and businesses in New Brunswick.
More than 415,000 Nova Scotia Power customers — about 80% in the province of almost 1 million people — had been affected by outages Saturday.
Utility companies say it could be days before the lights are back on for everyone.
The disaster caused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to cancel his trip to Japan for the funeral for assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
“We are seeing devastating images coming out of Port aux Basques. PEI (Prince Edward Island) has experienced storm damage like they’ve never seen. Cape Breton is being hit hard, too,” Trudeau said.
“There are people who see their houses destroyed, people who are very worried. We will be there for you,” Trudeau added.