Cape Bretoners asked to report final Fiona cleanups before winter

It's been nearly two months since Fiona blew through the Atlantic region.

While the storm is mostly just a memory by now, some people are still dealing with debris and damage.

"[It] crushed a baby barn, put a hole in the roof of my garage… smashed my lawn tractor,” said Sydney area resident Grant McKenzie.

McKenzie was at the city dump Saturday getting rid of some of the branches that were still in his yard before winter sets in.

"I'm trying to clean it all up before the snow comes,” he said.

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality is now asking anyone with outstanding Fiona-related issues to call 311.

One of the reasons is to resolve debris pickups before snow plow operations begin, and any leftover mess becomes a winter hazard.

CBRM councillor Cyril MacDonald says beyond those nuisance branches, he still sees other things left behind by the storm that ought to be taken care of.

“I think it's important that we get an understanding of what's still out there,” he said. "Those trees that are leaning or are resting on something, that haven't quite come down yet, but they could certainly cause some damage when the wind starts blowing and things start freezing."

This weekend, a mobile team from the Canadian Red Cross is in Antigonish County for people who still need to finalize financial assistance applications.

The Red Cross says it's distributed $45 million to more than 62,000 households across Atlantic Canada, including nearly $18 million on behalf of the P.E.I., Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador provincial governments.

They say about 4,000 cases still need to be finalized. Some people have reported being denied funding.

"Not all cases qualify for that assistance, just depending on the nature of what they incurred or what has been covered by other programs, such as other government programs or insurance,” said Dan Bedell of the Red Cross. “But we've helped a lot of people, and we do know there are still a lot of cases out there where we still have to kind of review them."

Back in Sydney, McKenzie says he paid $4,300 for tree repairs that weren't covered under any program.

He still has paperwork ahead of him to try and recoup some more.

"I'm still going to put a claim in for the damages to the buildings,” he said.

The CBRM is asking people to call 311 by Friday, Nov. 25.