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Fiona clean-up still ongoing on Prince Edward Island

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The damage left by post-tropical storm Fiona is still everywhere on Prince Edward Island — uprooted and broken trees remain months after the storm.

Tree management companies have been working through the backlog of jobs.

“We were a month behind before Fiona hit,” said Jerry Arsenault, owner-operator of Branch Manager Tree Service. “The jobs we had before Fiona are still there. We just never had time to get to them."

The province has reopened its Fiona residential cleanup program, which began after the storm, delegating crews to remove downed trees, as well as those leaning toward homes or driveways.

The province received more than 6,000 requests for a cleanup, and there are about 300 still remaining from that original program.

"There were a number of trees, debris, that may have been weakened because, absolutely because, of Fiona, that would have come down through the winter months," said Ernie Hudson, transportation and infrastructure minister.

Hudson said it's something they heard about on the campaign trail, but that isn’t news to the people who've been working since last fall to clear the trees.

"The storm itself is over but the cleanup is far from over,” said Arsenault. “There's lots of stuff to be cleaned up."

The program is open from May 23 through June 16. The province is also picking up roadside debris until the end of June. The program is not available in Charlottetown and Summerside.

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