A Canadian Town Was Partially Washed Out to Sea by Storm Fiona

At least one person is dead after Hurricane Fiona tore through Atlantic Canada and washed out several homes in Newfoundland.

Police confirmed that the unnamed 73-year-old woman died after the post-tropical cyclone, marked by hurricane-level winds and rising sea levels, washed her out of her home in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. The 4,000-person town, located on the southwestern tip of the province and the site of the main ferry connection to Canada’s mainland, was hit particularly hard. Images circulating online show a town with houses barely left

standing, including several that collapsed, as well as some submerged under water during the storm. Roofs were torn off and sheds were toppled over, while furniture continues to sit idle among the rubble in the aftermath. 

“I’m seeing homes in the ocean, I’m seeing rubble floating all over the place—it’s complete and utter destruction,” René J. Roy, chief editor at Wreckhouse Press and Port aux Basques resident, told the Associated Press. Roy added that an estimated eight to 12 homes and buildings were washed out.

The RCMP, Canada’s federal police, said the town was grappling with electrical fires and residential floods, and declared a state of emergency. 

On Saturday, the Canadian Hurricane Centre said Fiona likely has the lowest pressure of any storm that’s touched down in the country—in other words, one of the strongest ever to hit the country. 

The cyclone touched down in the area early Saturday after traveling north from the Caribbean, causing heavy rain, intense gusts of wind, and waves that exceeded heights of eight to 10 metres. In addition to Newfoundland, it battered Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec, felling trees and destroying a significant amount of infrastructure, including public transportation links. 

As of Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people across the region were still out of power. 

Defence Minister Anita Anand said Canadian troops would deploy to help clean up AtlanticCanada, but she did not say how many. 

While it’s difficult to link any one weather event to the climate crisis, typically, tropical storms hurling north toward Canada lose their intensity by the time they touch down. So, it’s possible that the climate crisis will result in more intense storms going forward. According to a study in Nature, ocean warming could be linked to increases in storm intensity. 

Gordon McBean, a Western University professor with the department of geography and environment, told Global News, “I think the evidence that I’ve seen is that the number of hurricanes may not go up, but the number of intense hurricanes, Categories 4s and 5s, will actually increase in intensity.”

McBean said it’s likely eastern Canada will see more extreme weather events going forward. 

Before touching down in Canada, at least five people were found dead in the Caribbean as a result of Fiona. 

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