Nova Scotia unveils funding applications to assist with Fiona clean up efforts

When Halifax resident Scott MacDonald looked at the mess on his property his first thought was, “who is going to clean it?”

MacDonald plans on tackling the clean up project himself this weekend.

“It needs to be cut and moved over to the side a little bit,” said MacDonald.

If he needs assistance, the Nova Scotia government is now offering financial support.

“Earlier this week we announced support for Nova Scotians impacted by the storm," said Premier Tim Houston, who added up to $250 is available for every person who has to pay for tree removal from their property.

Funding applications are open on the province's website.

“We don't want to have an onerous time-consuming process," said Houston. "We want this to happen as quickly as possible.”

Jim Casey lives in a central Halifax neighbourhood. Based on his experience, he said, the city and the province have both learned to adapt and improve their response over the years after each hurricane.

Casey says funding to help remove debris is a good idea.

“It wasn't something that I recall during the last hurricane," said Casey. "People were pretty well on their own.”

Now, Casey said people are better supported compared to previous major storms.