Fiona hit PEI early Saturday morning, causing widespread damage and power outages. As of Wednesday morning, about 57,000 Maritime Electric customers were still in the dark — with power restored to only about 26,000 customers on the fifth day of the outage. With crews returning to work Wednesday morning, spokesman Kim Griffin said things are particularly bad in the eastern part of the province. “We don’t have all the essential services. That’s definitely something our crews are focusing on,” Griffin said. “They worked until about midnight last night, a lot of them, before they got timed out, and they expect to be on the road by maybe 6:30, 7 this morning.” Inspections on Tuesday found more broken poles than expected and the number is now 475. Yesterday’s rain slowed down the work but the weather forecast is more favorable today. Roads will be closed in parts of Charlottetown on Wednesday to allow crews to work. Maritime Electric can’t yet give an estimate of when power will be fully restored, but Griffin hopes to provide an actual update this Thursday or Friday.
An aerial view of Fiona’s path of destruction in PEI
This drone footage collected by CBC video producer Shane Hennessey on Sunday shows the widespread damage caused by subtropical storm Fiona in parts of the island.
Red Cross Help
The Canadian Red Cross is urging islanders who need help in the storm’s wake to register. Bill Lawlor, provincial director for PEI and New Brunswick, said even in a close-knit province like PEI there are people with health and housing issues who are isolated. “We tend to think that’s not the case. You know, everybody knows everybody, it’s a nice, friendly atmosphere, friendly province,” Lawlor said. Finding those people who need help can be a challenge. The Red Cross works with provincial officials and conducts wellness checks on those known to the province. Even when these people are contacted, it can be difficult to determine their needs, Lawlor said. “You find that someone who says he’s fine, [but] they haven’t eaten for a day. They don’t know where they’re going to get their next meal,” he said. Islanders who need help, even if they’re just feeling isolated and want wellness checks, can register with the Red Cross online or by calling 1-800-863-6582 PEI Ground Search and Rescue also travels around the province, knocking on doors to check if people are OK.
Schools are closed until Monday
All English and French public schools will remain closed until at least Monday, October 3, Education Minister Natalie Jameson said during a press conference on Tuesday. Six schools in PEI have sustained significant damage. The schools are École Évangéline, Queen Charlotte Intermediate, Cardigan Consolidated, East Wiltshire Intermediate, West Royalty Elementary and Westwood Primary. Students may need to temporarily move to other schools and some may move to online education. Various shots of damage to Fiona (Shane Hennessey/CBC)
Pat and the elephant are running again
Pat and the Elephant, a transportation service for islanders with mobility impairments, returned to full service Monday, but co-director Halbert Pratt said there was difficulty reaching some customers. “There are so many trees and wires and things down there that it doesn’t seem like you can get from point A to point B in a straight line anymore,” Pratt said. He said communication continues to be a problem as well.
