Atlantic region braces for Dorian’s fury
Could be bigger than 2003 storm that killed eight
As residents of Atlantic Canada brace for the imminent arrival of the massive hurricane that laid waste to islands in the Bahamas, some Nova Scotians were sparing a moment to remember another storm, one that left destruction they hope won’t be repeated this weekend.
In September 2003, Hurricane Juan began in Bermuda and made its way as a Category 2 storm to Nova Scotia. There, it led to eight deaths, $200 million in damages and power outages for almost two weeks.
On Friday, Denyse Sibley, general manager of the Debert Flight Centre, compared the storm to Hurricane Dorian as she tried to find hangars to store planes.
“All indications are that it will be as strong, if not stronger,” says Sibley. “We’re anticipating that it will have at least the same punch.”
Hurricane Dorian, now a Category 1 storm, was moving at around 22 kilometres per hour Friday and was expected to remain a hurricane as it sweeps up the eastern seaboard, reaching Nova Scotia Saturday. The Canadian Hurricane Centre said a hurricane watch was in effect for all of Nova Scotia and tropical storm watches were also in effect for southeastern New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, the Magdalen Islands and western Newfoundland.
The region has experienced other hurricanes and tropical storms in recent decades, but the memories on local minds are from Hurricane Juan.
“Juan was one of the first big major hurricanes to come in, and I don’t think anyone was prepared for it,” said Art Gaetan, who owns a charter boat company for fishing blue sharks.
He planned to protect his boat by removing the solar panels and laying down the antennas, and he will close his business for three days, expecting to lose more than $5,000 in profit. “We’ve been on again, off again, not quite sure what’s going to happen,” he said from his boat.
Karen Hutt, president and CEO of Nova Scotia Power, did not make comparisons between the two storms.
“We’re not seeing anything to indicate that we’re dealing with a Juan situation at this moment,” she said.
Nova Scotia Power has brought in extra crews from Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick to respond to damage and has put up customer-service representatives at a hotel downtown to ensure they can safely get to work. Hutt did not estimate the financial cost of this response effort. “Those are details that we’re not thinking about right now,” she said.
On Friday, fishermen were thinking about how to preserve their boats, moving them to sheltered areas, tying them tightly together in long rows with thick bumpers.
“There’s a huge amount of activity around the dock,” said Evan d’Entremont, the 60-year-old owner of Evans Fresh Seafoods in West Pubnico, on Nova Scotia’s southwestern coast.
“Hopefully, we won’t have too many tidal surges,” d’Entremont said. “That’s the killer down here.”
Jamey Mood, a 38-year-old fisherman who lives in West Pubnico, was buying propane for the barbecue, gasoline for the car and laying in a three-day store of water and non-perishable food. He said he’s also sharpening his chainsaw, expecting that when wind takes down trees he’ll be called upon to help clean up the debris.
Max Kenney, the harbourmaster of the Cape Sable Island Harbour Authority, said his island — the southernmost point of Nova Scotia — regularly weathers gusts over 120 kilometres per hour in the winter. Yet, if the winds are stronger than that and sustained, while seas rise and tides pound, he worries about aging port infrastructure on the eastern side of the island that could be ripped apart.
He estimated 90 per cent of the island’s 250 fishing vessels have been moved from the eastern side, which faces the Atlantic Ocean, to seek shelter on the western side. Since the wharfs on the eastern side are 50 to 60 years old, and lobster fishing boats have gotten larger, Kenney has always said, “We’re one big storm from a disaster.”
While Dorian’s intensity has eased significantly since it pummeled the Bahamas, Atlantic Canada is unlikely to emerge unscathed.
Large waves are predicted for the Atlantic coasts of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and for eastern portions of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, while a storm surge, combined with large waves and pounding surf, could cause flooding in parts of Nova Scotia, P.E.I., Newfoundland, and the Magdalen Islands. National Post and
The Canadian Press