STANLEY BRIDGE, P.E.I. — Phyllis Carr's voice broke with emotion as she surveyed damage to the historic town of Stanley Bridge, a small community on the north shore of Prince Edward Island.
"It's very sad for those of us who lived here all of our lives and our parents lived here," she said, taking in a scene that has become all too familiar in towns and villages across Atlantic Canada battered and drenched by post-tropical storm Fiona.
And electricity has yet to be restored to about 250,000 homes and businesses in Atlantic Canada. At the height of the storm on Saturday, more than 500,000 were in the dark, including 80 per cent of Nova Scotia Power's customers and 90 per cent of P.E.I. Police in Nova Scotia said Monday that a man missing since Friday is believed to have been swept out to sea during the storm. Halifax district RCMP said 81-year-old Larry Smith of Lower Prospect, N.S., was last seen Friday evening, and an exhaustive search turned up no trace of him.
During the briefing, Newfoundland MP Gudie Hutchings told the prime minister that the gut-wrenching photos from Port aux Basques do not convey the level of devastation. She said at least 76 homes in the town of 4,000 had either been destroyed or structurally damaged. Earlier in the day, Defence Minister Anita Anand confirmed that HMCS Margaret Brooke, one of the military's new Arctic patrol ships, will be conducting wellness checks in small communities along the southern shore of Newfoundland.